Towards the detection of exoearths
CARMENES, [kár-men-es]
(Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exoearths
with Near-infrared and optical Échelle Spectrographs), is a
next-generation instrument being built for the 3.5m telescope at the Calar Alto
Observatory by a consortium of German and Spanish institutions.
It consists of two separated spectrographs
covering the wavelength ranges from 0.5 to 1.0 µm and from 1.0 to 1.7
µm with spectral resolutions R = 82,000, each of which shall perform
high-accuracy radial-velocity measurements (∼1 m s-1) with
long-term stability.
The fundamental science objective of CARMENES is to carry out a survey of
∼300 late-type main-sequence stars with the goal of detecting low-mass
planets in their habitable zones.
We aim at being able to detect 2 MEarth planets in the habitable zone
of M5V stars.
The CARMENES first light is expected to occur in Autumn 2014.
