Mission to Alpha Centauri

一个行星系统的质量和轨道周期类似于金星，地球和火星，应该可以在附近的半人马座α星星系统中检测到，使用目前2米/秒的多普勒精度和极端的节奏：每晚数百次观测，每一个可能的夜晚。这种观察节奏可以实现有效的该奖项将资助一个为期12个月的初步计划，其中菲舍尔博士和合作者将使用最近退役的布兰科光谱仪，光纤耦合到Cerro Tololo美洲天文台（CTIO）的1.5米中小孔径研究望远镜系统（SMARTS）联盟望远镜。2007年8月的初步观测提供了一组有希望的太阳径向速度，这表明该光谱仪应该能够产生高精度的径向速度。该计划有可能促进地基多普勒调查战略的巨大变化，这将有助于为未来的科学资金和资源分配提供信息。该计划是评估多普勒技术是否可以扩展到寻找潜在的宜居类地行星的关键一步。这些结果可能会影响有关空间飞行任务的供资和方案决定，并有助于为下一次十年审查提供有关行星探测战略的信息。这一方案还将使目前在CTIO订购不足的1.5米望远镜的使用重新活跃起来，为SMARTS和广大用户提供重要的新能力。这些观测还将提供有关恒星结构和对流区的前所未有的信息，对GO星星，半人马座α A和KO星星，半人马座α B进行差异比较。

A system of planets with masses and orbital periods similar to Venus, Earth and Mars should be detectable in the nearby alpha Centauri star system using the current Doppler precision of 2 m/s and extreme cadence: hundreds of observations per night, every possible night. This observing cadence could achieve an effective (phase-binned) precision of a few centimeters per second, which would be sufficient to detect the reflex motion caused by such planets.This award will fund an initial 12-month program in which Dr. Fischer and collaborators will use the recently decommissioned Blanco spectrometer, fiber-coupled to the 1.5-m Small and Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System (SMARTS) consortium telescope at the Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (CTIO). Preliminary observations made in August 2007 provided a promising set of radial velocities for the Sun, suggesting that this spectrometer should be capable of producing high precision radial velocities. This program has the potential to catalyze dramatic changes in the strategy for ground-based Doppler surveys that will help inform future allocation of science funding and resources.This program is a critical step for assessing whether the Doppler technique can be extended to the search for potentially habitable, terrestrial planets. The results could impact funding and programmatic decisions about space missions and could contribute to informing the next Decadal Review about planet detection strategies. This program will also re-invigorate use of a currently undersubscribed 1.5-m telescope at CTIO, providing an important new capability to SMARTS and the user community in general. The observations will also provide unprecedented information about stellar structure and convective zones, differentially comparing the GO star, alpha Centauri A, and the KO star, alpha Centauri B.