PRV Response 090310

Recommendations,for,NASA/NSF,Investment,in,, Precise,Radial,Velocity,Hardware,and,Facilities, , William&Cochran,&Dawn&Gelino,&Sara&Heap,&John&Johnson,&David&Latham& On&behalf&of&the&Precision&Radial&Velocity&Community& & Penn& State& University& and& the& NASA& Exoplanet& Science& Institute& recently& hosted& a& workshop& on& precision& radial&velocity&(PRV)&for&the&detection&and&characterization&of&exoplanets.&The& workshop& was&attended&by& more&than&100&researchers&from&around&the&world&(http://exoplanets.astro.psu.edu/workshop/program.html)&and& coincided&with&the&release&of&the&ASTRO2010&Decadal&report&that&laid&great&emphasis&on&the&importance&of& radial& velocity& measurements.& The& US& PRV& community,& many& of& whom& attended&this&conference,&have& prepared&this&series&of&recommendations&for&new&PRV&instrumentation&and&observing&opportunities&that&will& maintain&US&competitiveness&and&leadership&in&a&field&identified&as&critical&by&the&ASTRO2010&decadal&report.& & National,Research,Council,2010,Decadal,Survey,Report, One& of& the& top& three& scientific& objectives& of& the& National& Research& Council’s&2010&Decadal&Survey&of& Astronomy&and&Astrophysics&is&“New& Worlds:& Seeking& Nearby,& Habitable&Planets.”&&The&report&describes&a& “New& Worlds& Technology& Development& Program”& in& which& “NASA& and& NSF& should& support& an& aggressive& program& of& groundZbased& highZprecision& radial& velocity& surveys& of& nearby& stars& to& identify& potential& candidates.”&Two&sets&of"es&from&the&report&are&particularly&relevant:& & !“…The!first!task!on!the!ground!is!to!improve!the!precision!radial!velocity!method!by!which!the!majority!of!the!close!to! 500!known!exoplanets!have!been!discovered…Using!existing!large!ground@based!or!new!dedicated!mid@size!ground@ based!telescopes!equipped!with!a!new!generation!of!high@resolution!spectrometers!in!the!optical!and!near@infrared,! a!velocity!goal!of!10!to!20!centimeters!per!second!is!realistic...The!role!of!target@finding!for!future!direct@detection! missions!…!can!be!done!at!least!partially!by!pushing!ground@based!radial@velocity!capabilities!to!a!challenging!but! achievable!precision!below!10!centimeters!per!second.”!(p."7@8)& & !“…Improve!radial!velocity!measurements!on!existing!ground - based!telescopes!to!discover!planets!within!a!few!times!the! mass!of!Earth!as!potential!targets!for!future!space - based!direct - detection!missions.”!(p.!7@10)!This&is&listed&as&a& “MidZScale&Project”&in&the&$12&million&to&$40&million&range.&The&report&also&suggests,!“It!will!be!important!to!make! strategic!investments!in!new!ground@based!capabilities!during!the!coming!decade.!One!important!component!will!be! the!aggressive! development! of! ground@based!high!precision! radial@velocity! surveys!of!nearby! stars! at! optical!and! near@infrared! wavelengths! (including! efforts! to! determine! the! effect! of! stellar! activity! on! these! measurements).! These!surveys!will!need!new!spectrometers!and!significant!time!allocation!on!8@10m!class!telescopes.”!(p.!D@2)!! & Context,of,The,Decadal,Survey,Recommendations, The&US&must&develop&facilities&that&provide&data&of&high&precision,&accuracy&and&long&term&stability,&at&faint& magnitudes,&and&with&sufficient&observing&time&for&PRV&measurements,&in&order&to&respond&to&the&decadal& survey's&recommendations.&We¬e&that&the&European!Southern!Observatory!(ESO)!is&developing&ESPRESSO& for&the&VLT&and&CODEX&for&the&ELT,&which&will&provide&important&new&capabilities&to&European&astronomers.&& Without&appropriate&investments&in&instruments&and&telescope&time,&the&US&will&lose&competitiveness&in&this& critical&field.&To&achieve&the&most&challenging&goals,&e.g.&to&detect&planets&in&the&habitable&zones&of&solar&type& stars,&will& require&some&technology& development& to&achieve&the& highest& levels& of&precision.&In& other&cases,& only&funding&for&the&construction&of&wellZunderstood&spectrographic&instruments&and&access&to&appropriate& telescopes&is&required.& & Kepler&will&continue&to&be&a&pioneer&in&the&field&of&superZEarth&and&EarthZsized&exoplanets&making&PRV&data& on& faint& targets& an& absolute& necessity& to& validate& the& Kepler& results& and& to& provide& primary& physical& characterization&of&the&transiting&systems.&JWST&will&also&need&supporting&PRV&data,to&validate&targets&and& characterize&planets&for&spectroscopic&followZup&observations.&Supporting&PRV&data&will&also&be&essential&to& validate&and&characterize&planets&discovered&in&future,&spaceZbased,&wholeZsky&transiting&planet&surveys.&&& & NASA&and&NSF¤tly&support&a&large&number&of&observatories&that&could&benefit¤t&and&future&PRV& work&(Keck,&IRTF,&NOAO,&Gemini).&Both&a&new&generation&of&optical&and/or&nearZinfrared&spectrometers,&and& significant& amounts& of& telescope& time& are& essential& to& meet& the& objectives& of& the& decadal& survey.&Private& institutions& may& be& interested& in& partnering& with& NASA& and& NSF& to& help& achieve& the& decadal& survey& objectives.& & The,Precise,Radial,Velocity,Community,Response,, To,the,NRC,2010,Decadal,Report, & & In&view&of&the&numerous,&exciting&targets&identified&by&Kepler,&and&the&preZpublication&report&of&the& NRC& 2010& Decadal& panel& (ASTRO2010),& we& recommend& that& NASA& and& NSF& collaborate& and& coordinate& their& activities&to&achieve&the&nearZ&and&longZterm&goals&outlined&in&the& ASTRO2010& report.&By&taking&the&steps&below,&the&US&community&will&maximize&the&scientific&return&from&Kepler& and& future& space& missions,& and& carry& out& the& radial& velocity& surveys&needed&to&achieve& ASTRO2010’s& goal& of& discovering& and& characterizing& habitable& exoplanets&around&the&nearest,& brightest&stars:& & & & 1. Initiate! an! open,! competitive! program! to! develop! advanced! precise! radial! velocity! (PRV)! spectrographs! for! existing! U.S.@affiliated! observatories! both! in! the! optical! to! achieve!the!10!cm/s!goal!set!by!the!Decadal!report,!and!in!the!near@infrared!to!provide! initial!PRV!capabilities!of!1@10!m/s1;! ! 2. Augment!the!existing!program!of!PRV!observations!of!Kepler!candidates!by!obtaining! observing!time!at!existing!facilities!having!the!requisite!instrumentation;! ! 3. Support! upgrades! of! existing! spectrographs! and! the! building! of! new! PRV! spectrographs! (~1! m/s)! on! NASA@,!NSF@,! or! privately@funded! telescopes.! These! instruments!would!provide!the!cadence,!precision,!and!wide!sky!coverage!needed!for! surveys! to! find! rocky! planets! orbiting! nearby! stars.! Some! of! these! upgrades! or! new! instruments!using!existing!technology!could!proceed!on!a!rapid!enough!timescale!to!be! valuable!for!Kepler!follow@up;! ! 4. Accelerate! the! development! of! PRV! spectrographs! by! explicitly! encouraging! instrumentation!and/or!technology!fellowships!in!this!area;! ! 5. NSF,!NASA,!and!other!government!agencies!should!collaborate!to!develop!the!requisite! wavelength!calibration!capabilities!to!reach!the!ASTRO2010!goals!in!both!the!optical! and!near@infrared;! ! 6. Develop!a!comprehensive!calibration!and!archiving!plan!to!ensure!data!obtained!via! these!initiatives!are!available!to!the!astronomical!community!in!a!timely!fashion.! ! & & & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& 1&We&are&encouraged&to¬e&that&in&the&August&2010&“NOAO&Currents”&newsletter,&Gemini&announced,&“…its! intention!to!build!a!new!high@resolution!optical!spectrograph,!a!development!that!is,!in!part,!an!outcome!of!the! ALTAIR!committee!report.!Gemini!is!soliciting!science!and!instrument!white!papers!from!the!community…”!and& ”…is!also!investigating!new,!lower@cost!operations!models!for!the!post@2012!era."&&&& The&following&members&of&the&Precise&Radial&Velocity&Community&support&this&document:& & Guillem&Anglada,&Carnegie&Institution&of&Washington& Charles&Beichman,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& James&Beletic,&Teledyne&Imaging&Sensors& Chad&Bender,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Tim&Brown,&LCOGT& Joseph&Catanzarite,&Jet&Propulsion&Laboratory& David&Ciardi,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& William&Cochran,&McDonald&Observatory,&University&of&Texas& Jeff&Crane,&Observatories&of&the&Carnegie&Institution&of&Washington&& Justin&Crepp,&California&Institute&of&Technology& Scott&Diddams,&National&Institute&of&Standards&and&Technology& Michael&Endl,&McDonald&Observatory,&University&of&Texas&& Debra&Fischer,&Yale&University& Eric&Ford,&University&of&Florida& Gabor&Furesz,&Smithsonian&Astrophysical&Observatory& Jian&Ge,&University&of&Florida& Dawn&Gelino,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& Ronald&Gilliland,&Space&Telescope&Science&Institute& Elizabeth&Gomez,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Sara&Heap,&NASA’s&Goddard&Space&Flight&Center& Andrew&Howard,&University&of&California,&Berkeley& John&Johnson,&California&Institute&of&Technology& Stephen&Kane,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& David&Latham,&HarvardZSmithsonian&Center&for&Astrophysics& Jack&Lissauer,&NASA&Ames&Research&Facility& Phillip&MacQueen,&McDonald&Observatory& Robert&Mathieu,&University&of&WisconsinZMadison& Geoff&Marcy,&University&of&California,&Berkeley& Suvrath&Mahadevan,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Steve&Osterman,&University&of&Colorado& Peter&Plavchan,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& Lisa&Prato,&Lowell&Observatory& John&Rayner,&NASA&Infrared&Telescope&Facility& Evgenya&Shkolnik,&Carnegie&Institution&of&Washington& Steinn&Sigurdsson,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Andrew&Szentgyorgyi,&HarvardZSmithsonian&Center&for&Astrophysics& Angelle&Tanner,&Georgia&State&University& Andrei&Tokovinin,&Cerro&Tololo&InterZAmerican&Observatory,&NOAO& Alan&Tokunaga,&NASA&Infrared&Telescope&Facility& Guillermo&Torres,&HarvardZSmithsonian&Center&for&Astrophysics&& Larry&Ramsey,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Stephen&Redman,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Jeff&Valenti,&Space&Telescope&Science&Institute& Julian&van&Eyken,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& Kaspar&von&Braun,&NASA&Exoplanet&Science&Institute& Richard&Wade,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Sharon&X.&Wang,&Pennsylvania&State&University& William&Welsh,&San&Diego&State&University& Aleksander&Wolszczan,&Pennsylvania&State&University& Jason&Wright,&Pennsylvania&State&University&