Instrument
|
Outline • CARMENES instrument outline |
| Summary table • The most relevant engineering parameters of the instrument | |
| Observing • Open-time proposals through CAHA or Opticon, observing manual, sensitivity... | |
| Spectrographs • Comparable spectrographs in the visible and/or the near-infrared at 4 m-class telescopes or larger |
Outline ↑
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 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
0.52 to 0.96 µm and from 0.96 to 1.71 µm with spectral resolutions R =
80,000-100,000, each of which performs 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 with the two NIR and VIS channels working
simultaneously occured in Nov 2015;
the science survey of Guaranteed Time Observations started on 01 Jan
2016 and will last for at least five years
In the left menu you can get extra information on the
Consortium (institutions, key
names, sponsors, all consortium members and guests, industrial collaborators and
manufacturers) and our
Science (publications, PhD/MSc/BSc theses,
conferences)
There is another CARMENES website maintained by CAHA
Summary table ↑
| VIS channel | NIR channel | |
|---|---|---|
| Wavelength coverage, Δλ* | 520-960 nm ([V]RIZ) |
960-1710 nm (YJH) |
| Detector | 1 x 4kx4k e2v CCD231-84 | 2 x 2kx2k Hawaii-2RG (2.5 μm cutoff) |
| Wavelength calibration | Th-Ne lamps & Fabry-Pérot etalon | U-Ne lamps & Fabry-Pérot etalon |
| Working temperature, Twork | 285.000 ± 0.005 K | 140.000 ± 0.005 K |
| Spectral resolution, R | 94,600 | 80,400 |
| Mean sampling | 2.8 pixels | |
| Mean inter-fibre spacing | 7.0 pixels | |
| Cross disperser | Grism, LF5 glass | Grism, infrasil |
| Reflective optics coating | Silver | Gold |
| No. of orders | 55 | 28 |
| Échelle grating | 2 x Richardson Gratings R4 (31.6 mm-1) | |
| Target fibre field of view | 1.5 arcsec | |
| A&G system field of view | 3 arcmin | |
| A&G system band | Approx. R | |
*: There is a dichroic at 960 nm that splits the light into two beams, one for each channel. The detectors are actually sensitive until 1050 nm (VIS) and from 900 nm (NIR). There are some gaps in the wavelength coverage wider than 10 nm redwards of 1550 nm. The strongest telluric absorption is at the JH boundary
Observing ↑
How to get CARMENES observing time?
- If you work at a Spanish institution, follow the instructions in the CAHA call for proposals (deadlines: October and April). The Principal Investigator of the proposal and at least half of the team must be affiliated with a Spanish institution
- Usually every semester there are up to ten nights available in the 3.5 m telescope via Opticon for proposers coming from European countries different than Spain. They have to submit their application through the NorthStar tool (deadlines in late February-March and August-September)
- If you make your research outside Europe, you can still buy nights at the 3.5 m telescope. Contact the CAHA Director for details at any time
- Proposals applying for CARMENES should consider that the main science case of the CARMENES Guaranteed Time Observations is the detection, follow-up and characterisation of planets around M dwarfs with radial velocities. The agreement between CAHA and the CARMENES Consortium protects this science case. Principal investigators of proposals that might overlap with this science case are encouraged to contact the CARMENES Consortium for collaboration
- Exposure time calculator. This ETC is based on the code developed by Thomas Stuber during his MSc thesis at the LSW, and is maintained by Adrian Kaminski
- Instrument observing manual. Most, if not all, observations can be done in service mode by the CAHA Astronomy Department
- Sensitivity.
Approximate exposure time needed to get a total spectral signal-to-noise ratio S/N as a function of J magnitude (valid only for M dwarf spectral types):
J →
S/N ↓6.0 mag 7.0 mag 8.0 mag 9.0 mag 10.0 mag 50 15 s 40 s 100 s 240 s 615 s 100 60 s 155 s 390 s 980 s 2 x 1230 s 150 140 s 350 s 880 s 2 x 1100 s 4 x 1385 s
Alternatively use this formula: texp [s] = 26.5 (SNR/150)2 10(J-4.2)/2.5 (or, better, the ETC) - S/N = 150 allows reaching 1 m s-1 precision. We discourage observing targets fainter than J = 10.5 mag. Maximum individual exposure time is 1800 s
- Please ask the Instrument Astronomer for further information
Spectrographs ↑
| Comparable spectrographs in the visible and near infrared | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Acronym | Name | Telescope | Year |
| HIRES | High Resolution Spectrograph for the E-ELT | European-Extremely Large Telescope E-ELT | 2025+ |
| NIRPS + HARPS | NIRPS + HARPS | ESO 3.6 m La Silla | 2020 |
| GIARPS | GIANO-B + HARPS-N | Telescopio Nazionale Galileo | 2017 |
| Comparable spectrographs in the near infrared | |||
| Acronym | Name | Telescope | Year |
| Veloce | The Veloce spectrograph | Anglo-Australian Telescope | 2020+ |
| CRIRES+ | CRyogenic high-resolution InfraRed Échelle Spectrograph Upgrade | Very Large Telescope UT1 | 2020 |
| MAROON-X | Magellan Advanced Radial velocity Observer Of Neighboring eXoplanets | Gemini North | 2020 |
| NIRPS | Near Infra Red Planet Searcher | ESO 3.6 m La Silla | 2020 |
| SPIRou | A nIR high-precison-RV échelle spectropolarimeter for CFHT | Canada-France-Hawai'i Telescope | 2018 |
| HPF | Habitable zone Planet Finder | Hobby-Eberly Telescope | 2017 |
| IRD | Infrared Doppler instrument | Subaru | 2017 |
| GIANO-B | Fibre-fed Near-Infrared High Resolution Spectrograph | Telescopio Nazionale Galileo | 2017 |
| iSHELL | Immersion Grating Echelle Spectrograph | NASA IRTF | 2016 |
| GIANO | Long-slit Near-Infrared High Resolution Spectrograph | Telescopio Nazionale Galileo | Decommissioned |
| NAHUAL | Near-infrAred High-resolUtion spectrogrAph for pLanet hunting | Gran Telescopio Canarias | Cancelled |
| Comparable spectrographs in the visible | |||
| Acronym | Name | Telescope | Year |
| ESPRESSO | Échelle SPectrograph for Rocky Exoplanet- and Stable Spectroscopic Observations | Very Large Telescope | 2017 |
| HORUS | High Optical Resolution Ultra-Stable Spectrograph | Gran Telescopio Canarias | 2016 |
| HARPS-N | High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher-North | Telescopio Nazionale Galileo | 2012 |
| PFS | Planet Finder Spectrograph | Magellan II Telescope | 2010 |
| HARPS | High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher | ESO 3.6m La Silla | 2003 |
| HRS | High-Resolution Spectrograph | Hobby-Eberly Telescope | 2001 |
| UVES | Ultraviolet and Visual Échelle Spectrograph | Very Large Telescope UT2 | 2000 |
| HIRES | HIgh REsolution Échelle Spectrograph | Keck I Telescope | 1996 |
By comparable we mean high-resolution spectrograph with wide, simultaneous, spectral coverage at 4 m-class telescopes or larger. See also other échelle spectrographs (links at the UCM) and the Caballero (2015) review at Pathways 2015
