arXiv subjects

Farbod Jahandar

Publications and source records attributed to Farbod Jahandar.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Super-Earth masses and stellar abundances from NIRPS reveal tentative evidence for water-rich formation around M dwarfs

Tracing the compositional link between terrestrial super-Earths and their host stars provides clues to their dominant formation pathway. By constraining the stellar abundances of refractory elements, we can predict the core mass fractions (CMFs) of their super-Earths. The level of agreement between this prediction and the planetary CMF derived from their masses and radii can reveal past formation processes, like mantle stripping and water-rich formation plus sequestration in the planet's core. Here, we present the first results from the Near Infrared Planet Searcher (NIRPS) GTO CMF subprogram: an intensive radial velocity campaign to refine masses and compute host stellar abundances of three hot super- Earths around M dwarfs (GJ 1132 b, GJ 1252 b, and LTT 3780 b), calculating masses of $1.69 \pm 0.15M_\oplus$, $1.54 \pm 0.18M_\oplus$, and $2.34 \pm 0.10M_\oplus$ respectively. We measure the CMFs of these and six further hot super-Earths with precise masses already available in the literature to 10-15% precision. We compare these to CMF predictions made from measuring the Fe, Mg, and Si abundances of their host stars measured from the NIRPS spectra. We find that the CMFs of these planets are smaller than expected from their host stellar abundances, to a statistically significant degree. This discrepancy is suggestive of significant reservoirs of water, and while these planets are too hot to harbor surface water, they likely have interior water mass fractions of $\sim$1%.

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arXiv2026

NIRPS tightens the mass estimate of GJ 3090 b and detects a planet near the stellar rotation period

We present an updated characterization of the planetary system orbiting the nearby M2 dwarf GJ 3090 (TOI-177; $d = 22$ pc), based on new high-precision radial velocity (RV) observations from NIRPS and HARPS. With an orbital period of 2.85 d, the transiting sub-Neptune GJ 3090 b has a mass we refine to $4.52 \pm 0.47 M_{\oplus}$, which, combined with our derived radius of $2.18 \pm 0.06 R_{\oplus}$, yields a density of $2.40^{+0.33}_{-0.30}$ g cm$^{-3}$. The combined interior structure and atmospheric constraints indicate that GJ 3090 b is a compelling water-world candidate, with a volatile-rich envelope in which water likely represents a significant fraction. We also confirm the presence of a second planet, GJ 3090 c, a sub-Neptune with a 15.9 d orbit and a minimum mass of $10.0 \pm 1.3 M_{\oplus}$, which does not transit. Despite its proximity to the star's 18 d rotation period, our joint analysis using a multidimensional Gaussian process (GP) model that incorporates TESS photometry and differential stellar temperature measurements distinguishes this planetary signal from activity-induced variability. In addition, we place new constraints on a non-transiting planet candidate with a period of 12.7 d, suggested in earlier RV analyses. This candidate remains a compelling target for future monitoring. These results highlight the crucial role of multidimensional GP modelling in disentangling planetary signals from stellar activity, enabling the detection of a planet near the stellar rotation period that could have remained undetected with traditional approaches.

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arXiv2025

NIRPS and TESS reveal a peculiar system around the M dwarf TOI-756: A transiting sub-Neptune and a cold eccentric giant

The Near InfraRed Planet Searcher (NIRPS) joined HARPS on the 3.6-m ESO telescope at La Silla Observatory in April 2023, dedicating part of its Guaranteed Time Observations (GTO) program to the radial velocity follow-up of TESS planet candidates to confirm and characterize transiting planets around M dwarfs. We report the first results of this program with the characterization of the TOI-756 system, which consists of TOI-756 b, a transiting sub-Neptune candidate detected by TESS, as well as TOI-756 c, an additional non-transiting planet discovered by NIRPS and HARPS. TOI-756 b is a 1.24-day period sub-Neptune with a radius of 2.81 $\pm$ 0.10 $R_\oplus$ and a mass of 9.8$^{+1.8}_{-1.6}$ $M_\oplus$. TOI-756 c is a cold eccentric (e$_c$ = 0.45 $\pm$ 0.01) giant planet orbiting with a period of 149.6 days around its star with a minimum mass of 4.05 $\pm$ 0.11 $M_\mathrm{jup}$. Additionally, a linear trend of 146$~\mathrm{m\,s}^{-1}\,\mathrm{yr}^{-1}$ is visible in the radial velocities, hinting at a third component, possibly in the planetary or brown dwarf regime. This system is unique in the exoplanet landscape, standing as the first confirmed example of such a planetary architecture around an M dwarf. With a density of 2.42 $\pm$ 0.49 g cm$^{-3}$, the inner planet, TOI-756 b, is a volatile-rich sub-Neptune. Assuming a pure H/He envelope, we inferred an atmospheric mass fraction of 0.023 and a core mass fraction of 0.27, which is well constrained by stellar refractory abundances derived from NIRPS spectra. It falls within the still poorly explored radius cliff and at the lower boundary of the Neptune desert, making it a prime target for a future atmospheric characterization with JWST to improve our understanding of this population.

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arXiv2025

NIRPS joining HARPS at ESO 3.6 m. On-sky performance and science objectives

The Near-InfraRed Planet Searcher (NIRPS) is a high-resolution, high-stability near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph equipped with an AO system. Installed on the ESO 3.6-m telescope, it was developed to enable radial velocity (RV) measurements of low-mass exoplanets around M dwarfs and to characterise exoplanet atmospheres in the NIR. This paper provides a comprehensive design overview and characterisation of the NIRPS instrument, reporting on its on-sky performance, and presenting its GTO programme. The instrument started its operations on 1 Apr 2023 after intensive on-sky testing phases. The spectral range continuously covers the Y, J, and H bands from 972.4 to 1919.6 nm. The thermal control system maintains 1 mK stability over several months. The NIRPS AO-assisted fibre link improves coupling efficiency and offers a unique high-angular resolution capability with a fibre acceptance of only 0.4 arcsec. A high spectral resolving power of 90 000 and 75 000 is provided in HA and HE modes, respectively. The overall throughput from the top of the atmosphere to the detector peaks at 13 percent. The RV precision, measured on the bright star Proxima with a known exoplanetary system, is 77 cm/s. NIRPS and HARPS can be used simultaneously, offering unprecedented spectral coverage for spectroscopic characterisation and stellar activity mitigation. Modal noise can be aptly mitigated by the implementation of fibre stretchers and AO scanning mode. Initial results confirm that NIRPS opens new possibilities for RV measurements, stellar characterisation, and exoplanet atmosphere studies with high precision and high spectral fidelity. NIRPS demonstrated stable RV precision at the level of 1 m/s over several weeks. The instrument high throughput offers a notable improvement over previous spectrographs, enhancing our ability to detect small exoplanets.

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arXiv2025

Diving into the planetary system of Proxima with NIRPS -- Breaking the metre per second barrier in the infrared

We obtained 420 high-resolution spectra of Proxima, over 159 nights, using the Near Infra Red Planet Searcher (NIRPS). We derived 149 nightly binned radial velocity measurements with a standard deviation of 1.69 m/s and a median uncertainty of 55 cm/s, and performed a joint analysis combining radial velocities, spectroscopic activity indicators, and ground-based photometry, to model the planetary and stellar signals present in the data, applying multi-dimensional Gaussian process regression to model the activity signals. We detect the radial velocity signal of Proxima b in the NIRPS data. All planetary characteristics are consistent with those previously derived using visible light spectrographs. In addition, we find evidence of the presence of the sub-Earth Proxima d in the NIRPS data. When combining the data with the HARPS observations taken simultaneous to NIRPS, we obtain a tentative detection of Proxima d and parameters consistent with those measured with ESPRESSO. By combining the NIRPS data with simultaneously obtained HARPS observations and archival data, we confirm the existence of Proxima d, and demonstrate that its parameters are stable over time and against change of instrument. We refine the planetary parameters of Proxima b and d, and find inconclusive evidence of the signal attributed to Proxima c (P = 1900 d) being present in the data. We measure Proxima b and d to have minimum masses of 1.055 $\pm$ 0.055 Me, and 0.260 $\pm$ 0.038 Me, respectively. Our results show that, in the case of Proxima, NIRPS provides more precise radial velocity data than HARPS, and a more significant detection of the planetary signals. The standard deviation of the residuals of NIRPS after the fit is 80 cm/s, showcasing the potential of NIRPS to measure precise radial velocities in the near-infrared.

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arXiv2025

Blind search for activity-sensitive lines in the near-infrared using HARPS and NIRPS observations of Proxima and Gl 581

Stellar activity variability is one of the main obstacles to the detection of Earth-like planets using the RV method. The aim of this work is to measure the effect of activity in the spectra of M dwarfs and detect activity-sensitive lines in the NIR. We took advantage of the simultaneous observations of HARPS and the newly commissioned NIRPS spectrograph to carry out a blind search of the most activity-sensitive spectral lines in the NIR using NIRPS spectra and known activity indicators in the optical from HARPS as a reference. We analysed the spectra of Proxima (M5.5V) and Gl 581 (M3V), two M dwarfs with different activity levels and internal structures. Spectral lines were identified for both stars and their profiles were fitted using different models. We found hundreds of lines sensitive to activity for both stars; the Proxima spectra were more affected. For Proxima, 32% of the identified lines can be used to measure the rotation period of the star, while for Gl 581 the numbers drops to 1%. The fraction of lines sensitive to activity increases with increasing line depth. A list of 17 lines with rotation period detection for both stars is provided. Stellar activity is able to affect a significant number of spectral lines in the NIR, and methods should be developed to mitigate those effects at the spectral level. The line distortions detected here are expected to come mainly from the flux effect due to temperature contrasts between active regions and the quiet photosphere; however, we cannot rule out the possibility that core-emission from chromospheric activity or Zeeman splitting are also affecting some lines. The new line lists presented here can be used to improve the RV extraction and the detection of RV variability due to stellar activity signals, and to help false positive detection and the modelling of activity variability, thereby enhancing exoplanet detection in the NIR.

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arXiv2025

NIRPS detection of delayed atmospheric escape from the warm and misaligned Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-69b

Near-infrared high-resolution echelle spectrographs unlock access to fundamental properties of exoplanets, from their atmospheric escape and composition to their orbital architecture, which can all be studied simultaneously from transit observations. We present the first results of the newly commissioned ESO near-infrared spectrograph, NIRPS, from three transits of WASP-69b. We used the RM Revolutions technique to better constrain the orbital architecture of the system. We extracted the high-resolution helium absorption profile to study its spectral shape and temporal variations. Then, we made 3D simulations from the EVE code to fit the helium absorption time series. We measure a slightly misaligned orbit for WASP-69b (psi of 28.7+/-5.7 deg). We confirm the detection of helium with an average excess absorption of 3.17+/-0.05%. The helium absorption is spectrally and temporally resolved, extends to high altitudes and has a strong velocity shift up to -29.5+/-2.5 km/s 50 minutes after egress. EVE simulations put constraints on the mass loss of 2.25 10^11 g/s and hint at reactive chemistry within the cometary-like tail and interaction with the stellar winds that allow the metastable helium to survive longer than expected. Our results suggest that WASP-69b is undergoing a transformative phase in its history, losing mass while evolving on a misaligned orbit. This work shows how combining multiple observational tracers such as orbital architecture, atmospheric escape, and composition, is critical to understand exoplanet demographics and their formation and evolution. We demonstrate that NIRPS can reach precisions similar to HARPS for RM studies, and the high data quality of NIRPS leads to unprecedented atmospheric characterization. The high stability of NIRPS combined with the large GTO available for its consortium, enables in-depth studies of exoplanets as well as large population surveys.

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arXiv2024

Chemical Fingerprints of M Dwarfs: High-Resolution Spectroscopy on 31 M Dwarfs with SPIRou

We extend the methodology introduced by Jahandar et al. (2024) to determine the effective temperature and chemical abundances of 31 slowly-rotating solar neighborhood M dwarfs (M1-M5) using high-resolution spectra from CFHT/SPIRou. This group includes 10 M dwarfs in binary systems with FGK primaries of known metallicity from optical measurements. By testing our $T_{\rm eff}$ method on various synthetic models, we find a consistent inherent synthetic uncertainty of $\sim$10 K at a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 100. Additionally, we find that our results align with interferometric measurements, showing a consistent residual of $-$29 $\pm$ 31 K. Taking the inherent uncertainties into account, we infer the $T_{\rm eff}$ values of our targets and find an excellent agreement with previous optical and NIR studies. Our high-resolution chemical analysis examines hundreds of absorption lines using $χ^2$ minimization using PHOENIX-ACES stellar atmosphere models. We present elemental abundances for up to 10 different elements, including refractory elements such as Si, Mg, and Fe, which are important for modelling the interior structure of exoplanets. In binary systems, we find an average [Fe/H] of $-$0.15 $\pm$ 0.08 for M dwarfs, marginally lower than the reported metallicity of $-$0.06 $\pm$ 0.18 for the FGK primaries from Mann et al. (2013a). We also observe slightly sub-solar chemistry for various elements in our non-binary M dwarfs, most notably for O, C, and K abundances. In particular, we find an average metallicity of $-$0.11 $\pm$ 0.16 lower but still consistent with the typical solar metallicity of FGK stars (e.g. [Fe/H] = 0.04 $\pm$ 0.20 from Brewer et al. 2016). This study highlights significant discrepancies in various major M dwarf surveys likely related to differences in the methodologies employed.

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arXiv2024

Comprehensive High-resolution Chemical Spectroscopy of Barnard's Star with SPIRou

Determination of fundamental parameters of stars impacts all fields of astrophysics, from galaxy evolution to constraining the internal structure of exoplanets. This paper presents a detailed spectroscopic analysis of Barnard's star that compares an exceptionally high-quality (an average signal-to-noise ratio of $\sim$1000 in the entire domain), high-resolution NIR spectrum taken with CFHT/SPIRou to PHOENIX-ACES stellar atmosphere models. The observed spectrum shows thousands of lines not identified in the models with a similar large number of lines present in the model but not in the observed data. We also identify several other caveats such as continuum mismatch, unresolved contamination and spectral lines significantly shifted from their expected wavelengths, all of these can be a source of bias for abundance determination. Out of $>10^4$ observed lines in the NIR that could be used for chemical spectroscopy, we identify a short list of a few hundred lines that are reliable. We present a novel method for determining the effective temperature and overall metallicity of slowly-rotating M dwarfs that uses several groups of lines as opposed to bulk spectral fitting methods. With this method, we infer $T_{eff}$ = 3231 $\pm$ 21 K for Barnard's star, consistent with the value of 3238 $\pm$ 11 K inferred from the interferometric method. We also provide abundance measurements of 15 different elements for Barnard's star, including the abundances of four elements (K, O, Y, Th) never reported before for this star. This work emphasizes the need to improve current atmosphere models to fully exploit the NIR domain for chemical spectroscopy analysis.

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arXiv2023

New Mass and Radius Constraints on the LHS 1140 Planets -- LHS 1140 b is Either a Temperate Mini-Neptune or a Water World

The two-planet transiting system LHS 1140 has been extensively observed since its discovery in 2017, notably with $Spitzer$, HST, TESS, and ESPRESSO, placing strong constraints on the parameters of the M4.5 host star and its small temperate exoplanets, LHS 1140 b and c. Here, we reanalyse the ESPRESSO observations of LHS 1140 with the novel line-by-line framework designed to fully exploit the radial velocity content of a stellar spectrum while being resilient to outlier measurements. The improved radial velocities, combined with updated stellar parameters, consolidate our knowledge on the mass of LHS 1140 b (5.60$\pm$0.19 M$_{\oplus}$) and LHS 1140 c (1.91$\pm$0.06 M$_{\oplus}$) with unprecedented precision of 3%. Transits from $Spitzer$, HST, and TESS are jointly analysed for the first time, allowing us to refine the planetary radii of b (1.730$\pm$0.025 R$_{\oplus}$) and c (1.272$\pm$0.026 R$_{\oplus}$). Stellar abundance measurements of refractory elements (Fe, Mg and Si) obtained with NIRPS are used to constrain the internal structure of LHS 1140 b. This planet is unlikely to be a rocky super-Earth as previously reported, but rather a mini-Neptune with a $\sim$0.1% H/He envelope by mass or a water world with a water-mass fraction between 9 and 19% depending on the atmospheric composition and relative abundance of Fe and Mg. While the mini-Neptune case would not be habitable, a water-abundant LHS 1140 b potentially has habitable surface conditions according to 3D global climate models, suggesting liquid water at the substellar point for atmospheres with relatively low CO$_2$ concentration, from Earth-like to a few bars.

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arXiv2023

A massive hot Jupiter orbiting a metal-rich early-M star discovered in the TESS full frame images

Observations and statistical studies have shown that giant planets are rare around M dwarfs compared with Sun-like stars. The formation mechanism of these extreme systems remains under debate for decades. With the help of the TESS mission and ground based follow-up observations, we report the discovery of TOI-4201b, the most massive and densest hot Jupiter around an M dwarf known so far with a radius of $1.22\pm 0.04\ R_J$ and a mass of $2.48\pm0.09\ M_J$, about 5 times heavier than most other giant planets around M dwarfs. It also has the highest planet-to-star mass ratio ($q\sim 4\times 10^{-3}$) among such systems. The host star is an early-M dwarf with a mass of $0.61\pm0.02\ M_{\odot}$ and a radius of $0.63\pm0.02\ R_{\odot}$. It has significant super-solar iron abundance ([Fe/H]=$0.52\pm 0.08$ dex). However, interior structure modeling suggests that its planet TOI-4201b is metal-poor, which challenges the classical core-accretion correlation of stellar-planet metallicity, unless the planet is inflated by additional energy sources. Building on the detection of this planet, we compare the stellar metallicity distribution of four planetary groups: hot/warm Jupiters around G/M dwarfs. We find that hot/warm Jupiters show a similar metallicity dependence around G-type stars. For M dwarf host stars, the occurrence of hot Jupiters shows a much stronger correlation with iron abundance, while warm Jupiters display a weaker preference, indicating possible different formation histories.

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arXiv2022

TOI-1452 b: SPIRou and TESS reveal a super-Earth in a temperate orbit transiting an M4 dwarf

Exploring the properties of exoplanets near or inside the radius valley provides insights on the transition from the rocky super-Earths to the larger, hydrogen-rich atmosphere mini-Neptunes. Here, we report the discovery of TOI-1452 b, a transiting super-Earth ($R_{\rm p} = 1.67 \pm 0.07$ R$_{\oplus}$) in an 11.1--day temperate orbit ($T_{\rm eq} = 326 \pm 7$ K) around the primary member ($H = 10.0$, $T_{\rm eff} = 3185 \pm 50$ K) of a nearby visual binary M dwarf. The transits were first detected by TESS, then successfully isolated between the two $3.2^{\prime\prime}$ companions with ground-based photometry from OMM and MuSCAT3. The planetary nature of TOI-1452 b was established through high-precision velocimetry with the near-infrared SPIRou spectropolarimeter as part of the ongoing SPIRou Legacy Survey. The measured planetary mass ($4.8 \pm 1.3$ M$_{\oplus}$) and inferred bulk density ($5.6^{+1.8}_{-1.6}$ g/cm$^3$) is suggestive of a rocky core surrounded by a volatile-rich envelope. More quantitatively, the mass and radius of TOI-1452 b, combined with the stellar abundance of refractory elements (Fe, Mg and Si) measured by SPIRou, is consistent with a core mass fraction of $18\pm6$ % and a water mass fraction of $22^{+21}_{-13}$%. The water world candidate TOI-1452 b is a prime target for future atmospheric characterization with JWST, featuring a Transmission Spectroscopy Metric similar to other well-known temperate small planets such as LHS 1140 b and K2-18 b. The system is located near Webb's northern Continuous Viewing Zone, implying that is can be followed at almost any moment of the year.

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arXiv2021

TOI-1278 B: SPIRou unveils a rare Brown Dwarf Companion in Close-In Orbit around an M dwarf

We present the discovery of an $18.5\pm0.5$M$_{\rm Jup}$ brown dwarf (BD) companion to the M0V star TOI-1278. The system was first identified through a percent-deep transit in TESS photometry; further analysis showed it to be a grazing transit of a Jupiter-sized object. Radial velocity (RV) follow-up with the SPIRou near-infrared high-resolution velocimeter and spectropolarimeter in the framework of the 300-night SPIRou Legacy Survey (SLS) carried out at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) led to the detection of a Keplerian RV signal with a semi-amplitude of $2306\pm10$ m/s in phase with the 14.5-day transit period, having a slight but non-zero eccentricity. The intermediate-mass ratio ($M_\star/M_{\rm{comp}} \sim31$) is unique for having such a short separation ($0.095\pm0.001$ AU) among known M-dwarf systems. Interestingly, M dwarf-brown dwarf systems with similar mass ratios exist with separations of tens to thousands of AUs.

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arXiv2019

The Pristine Survey -- VI. The first three years of medium-resolution follow-up spectroscopy of Pristine EMP star candidates

We present the results of a 3-year long, medium-resolution spectroscopic campaign aimed at identifying very metal-poor stars from candidates selected with the CaHK, metallicity-sensitive Pristine survey. The catalogue consists of a total of 1007 stars, and includes 146 rediscoveries of metal-poor stars already presented in previous surveys, 707 new very metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] < -2.0, and 95 new extremely metal-poor stars with [Fe/H] < -3.0. We provide a spectroscopic [Fe/H] for every star in the catalogue, and [C/Fe] measurements for a subset of the stars (10% with [Fe/H] < -3 and 24% with -3 < [Fe/H] < -2) for which a carbon determination is possible, contingent mainly on the carbon abundance, effective temperature and S/N of the stellar spectra. We find an average carbon enhancement fraction ([C/Fe] >= +0.7) of 41 +- 4% for stars with -3 < [Fe/H] < -2 and 58 +- 14% for stars with [Fe/H] < -3, and report updated success rates for the Pristine survey of 56 % and 23 % to recover stars with [Fe/H] < -2.5 and [Fe/H] < -3, respectively. Finally, we discuss the current status of the survey and its preparation for providing targets to upcoming multi-object spectroscopic surveys such as WEAVE.

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arXiv2018

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Book 2018

(Abridged) This is the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer 2018 book. It is intended as a concise reference guide to all aspects of the scientific and technical design of MSE, for the international astronomy and engineering communities, and related agencies. The current version is a status report of MSE's science goals and their practical implementation, following the System Conceptual Design Review, held in January 2018. MSE is a planned 10-m class, wide-field, optical and near-infrared facility, designed to enable transformative science, while filling a critical missing gap in the emerging international network of large-scale astronomical facilities. MSE is completely dedicated to multi-object spectroscopy of samples of between thousands and millions of astrophysical objects. It will lead the world in this arena, due to its unique design capabilities: it will boast a large (11.25 m) aperture and wide (1.52 sq. degree) field of view; it will have the capabilities to observe at a wide range of spectral resolutions, from R2500 to R40,000, with massive multiplexing (4332 spectra per exposure, with all spectral resolutions available at all times), and an on-target observing efficiency of more than 80%. MSE will unveil the composition and dynamics of the faint Universe and is designed to excel at precision studies of faint astrophysical phenomena. It will also provide critical follow-up for multi-wavelength imaging surveys, such as those of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope, Gaia, Euclid, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope, the Square Kilometre Array, and the Next Generation Very Large Array.

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arXiv2018

MSE FiTS: the ultimate multi-fiber optic transmission system

The Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) is a next-generation observatory, designed to provide highly multiplexed, multi-object spectroscopy over a wide field of view. The observatory will consist of (1) a telescope with an 11.25 m aperture, (2) a 1.5 square-degree science field of view, (3) fibre optic positioning and transmission systems, and (4) a suite of low (R=3000), moderate (R=6000) and high resolution (R=40,000) spectrographs. The Fibre Transmission System (FiTS) consists of 4332 optical fibres, designed to transmit the light from the telescope prime focus to the dedicated spectrographs. The ambitious science goals of MSE require the Fibre Transmission System to deliver performance well beyond the current state of the art for multi-fibre systems, e.g., the sensitivity to observe magnitude 24 objects over a very broad wavelength range (0.37 - 1.8 microns) while achieving relative spectrophotometric accuracy of <3% and radial velocity precision of 20 km/s.

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arXiv2018

Automated testing of optical fibres: towards the design of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer Fibre Transmission System

We present the results of an automated fibre optic test bench constructed at the University of Victoria as part of the Maunakea Spectroscopic Explorer (MSE) Fibre Transmission System (FiTS). In preparation for MSE-FiTS, we have begun characterizing the focal ratio degradation (FRD) of candidate multi-mode fibres with the ultimate goal of testing all ~4000 MSE fibres. To achieve this, we have built an optical bench to perform an automated version of the collimated beam test. Herein we present the design of the bench and discuss the automation of components by introducing the Big FiTS Fibre Wrapper (Big FFW), our open-source automation software. We conclude with the results of tests performed using the Big FFW on a sample of candidate fibre, comparing the Big FFW results against those found using manual methods. Our results suggest that the candidate MSE fibre meets the science requirement of < 5% FRD at f=2 and less than 1% disagreement between both measurement methods.

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arXiv2018

An Application of Deep Neural Networks in the Analysis of Stellar Spectra

Spectroscopic surveys require fast and efficient analysis methods to maximize their scientific impact. Here we apply a deep neural network architecture to analyze both SDSS-III APOGEE DR13 and synthetic stellar spectra. When our convolutional neural network model (StarNet) is trained on APOGEE spectra, we show that the stellar parameters (temperature, gravity, and metallicity) are determined with similar precision and accuracy as the APOGEE pipeline. StarNet can also predict stellar parameters when trained on synthetic data, with excellent precision and accuracy for both APOGEE data and synthetic data, over a wide range of signal-to-noise ratios. In addition, the statistical uncertainties in the stellar parameter determinations are comparable to the differences between the APOGEE pipeline results and those determined independently from optical spectra. We compare StarNet to other data-driven methods; for example, StarNet and the Cannon 2 show similar behaviour when trained with the same datasets, however StarNet performs poorly on small training sets like those used by the original Cannon. The influence of the spectral features on the stellar parameters is examined via partial derivatives of the StarNet model results with respect to the input spectra. While StarNet was developed using the APOGEE observed spectra and corresponding ASSET synthetic data, we suggest that this technique is applicable to other wavelength ranges and other spectral surveys.

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