Astro Combs
Our Work
Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian scientists are developing astro comb technology to create the next generation of observatories:
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Measuring the Doppler “wobble” from increasingly small planets, in hopes of finding exoplanets the size of Earth. The challenge has been to adapt astro combs to visible light colors, since this method works best for infrared light. To test the method, astronomers looked at our own Sun for the wobble produced from Venus, which is very close in mass to Earth, but produces a bigger Doppler effect on the Sun thanks to its smaller orbit.
Rediscovering Venus to Find Faraway Earths -
Using astro combs on the HARPS-North instrument to verify exoplanets discovered by the Kepler Observatory. Kepler’s method of detecting planets reveals their size, but not their mass. The Doppler effect depends directly on mass, and that’s where HARPS-North comes in. astro combs improve the ability to locate lower-mass planets in Doppler data.
HARPS-N Instrument Will Help Confirm Kepler's Planet Finds -
Developing models for potential future gravitational wave observatories based on astro combs. These concepts require very precise atomic clocks, based on astro comb technology, to find small timing differences created by passing disturbances in spacetime.
Gravity Wave Detection with Atomic Clocks
The Telescopio Nazionale Galileo in the Canary Islands hosts the HARPS-N instrument. CfA researchers have implemented astro combs on HARPS-N to find Earth-sized planets orbiting other stars.
Combing the Skies
When planets orbit stars, their gravity tugs back on the stars slightly, moving them a small amount on each pass. That motion shifts the apparent colors of the star’s light toward shorter, bluer wavelengths when the star is moving toward us and to longer, redder wavelengths when the star is moving away.
This is the same Doppler effect that changes the pitch of a siren as a fire truck passes. The Doppler effect for exoplanets is tiny, and so far has mostly been useful for massive planets orbiting very close to their host stars. To improve the sensitivity — and detect lower-mass planets — some astronomers use astro combs.
Laser light is nearly one pure color, meaning the wavelength of each photon coming out of a laser is almost exactly the same. An astro comb splits the light into short bursts, which can be tuned to very specific colors — the “teeth” of the comb. Astronomers use these colors to fine-tune their instruments when measuring the spectrum from a star. That precision leads to huge improvements in the measurement of the Doppler effect. An astro comb is currently part of the High Accuracy Radial-velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere (HARPS-North). Researchers hope to reach the precision necessary to detect Earth-like planets using this method.