Anglo-Australian Planet Search

Anglo-Australian Planet Search
Name	Anglo-Australian Planet Search
Organization	Anglo-Australian Observatory
Location	Siding Spring Observatory
Telescope	3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope
Established	1998
Wavelength	Visible
Technique	Radial velocity

Anglo-Australian Planet Search The Anglo-Australian Planet Search operated as a long-term radial-velocity exoplanet survey using the 3.9 m Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory and instrumental support from the Anglo-Australian Observatory, seeking planetary companions around nearby solar-type stars while interacting with institutions such as European Southern Observatory, NASA, European Space Agency, California Institute of Technology, and University of New South Wales.

Background and objectives

The survey was conceived in the late 1990s amid rapid advances following discoveries like 51 Pegasi b and projects including California Planet Search, Lick Observatory, Keck Observatory, CORALIE, and ELODIE, with primary objectives to measure long-period giant planets, constrain occurrence rates for Jupiter analogs, and provide targets for missions such as Hubble Space Telescope, Spitzer Space Telescope, Kepler, Gaia, and James Webb Space Telescope. The program aimed to complement surveys at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Carnegie Institution for Science, Observatoire de Haute-Provence, and Mount Wilson Observatory by focusing on bright southern-hemisphere stars and to inform theoretical models from groups at Princeton University, University of Cambridge, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Caltech.

Instrumentation and methodology

Observations used the high-resolution spectrograph on the Anglo-Australian Telescope with iodine-cell and simultaneous calibration techniques similar to those developed at Lick Observatory and Keck Observatory, employing wavelength references related to methods used by HARPS teams at European Southern Observatory. Instrumental stability was benchmarked against standards studied at National Institute of Standards and Technology and analysis pipelines informed by algorithms from University of California, Berkeley, Space Telescope Science Institute, University of Oxford, and University of Sydney. The program leveraged developments in precision spectroscopy advanced at Observatoire de Genève, University of Geneva, Max Planck Society, and Australian National University.

Survey targets and observing strategy

Target selection emphasized nearby F, G, K, and early M dwarfs cataloged in compilations from Hipparcos, Henry Draper Catalogue, Gliese Catalogue, and follow-up lists used by Anglo-Australian Observatory staff, with exclusion criteria referencing activity indicators from studies at Mount Wilson Observatory and metallicity trends reported by researchers at University of California, Santa Cruz and Carnegie Institution for Science. The observing cadence adopted long baselines comparable to strategies at W. M. Keck Observatory and La Silla Observatory to detect multi-year signals, coordinating time allocation with committees at Australian Astronomical Observatory, Australian Research Council, National Science Foundation, and collaborators at Monash University and University of New South Wales.

Key discoveries and notable exoplanets

The survey reported several significant detections, including long-period gas giants and multiple-planet systems that joined catalogs alongside discoveries like 47 Ursae Majoris b, HD 69830 planets, and HD 10647 b, contributing to comparative studies with systems such as Upsilon Andromedae, HD 37124, Gliese 876, and Epsilon Eridani. Notable outputs informed characterizations related to transiting objects found by WASP and confirmed by teams at TRAPPIST and MEarth, and provided radial-velocity confirmations complementary to space-based transit candidates from CoRoT and Kepler.

Data analysis and detection techniques

Analysis pipelines combined cross-correlation functions and forward-modeling approaches akin to methods used by HARPS teams and statistical frameworks from groups at University of California, Santa Cruz, University of Florida, University of Toronto, and University of Cambridge. Periodogram analyses referenced algorithms developed in studies associated with Lomb–Scargle periodogram applications by researchers at Princeton University and Cornell University, while Bayesian model selection and Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods were implemented following best practices from University College London, Imperial College London, and University of Oxford teams. Stellar activity mitigation drew on chromospheric indices produced in work at Mount Wilson Observatory and photometric monitoring campaigns coordinated with observatories including Las Cumbres Observatory and Siding Spring Observatory.

Scientific impact and follow-up studies

Results influenced occurrence-rate estimates used by groups at NASA Ames Research Center, Exoplanet Science Institute, Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, and informed target lists for direct-imaging projects at Gemini Observatory, Very Large Telescope, and instruments like GPI and SPHERE. Follow-up efforts included astrometric constraints from Gaia, transit searches by WASP and TESS teams, and atmospheric characterization partnerships with Hubble Space Telescope and later James Webb Space Telescope proposals from consortia at University of Exeter, University of Arizona, and University of California, Santa Cruz.

Collaboration, funding, and project history

The program was a collaboration among the Anglo-Australian Observatory, Australian universities including Australian National University and University of Sydney, and international partners from institutions such as Caltech, Carnegie Institution for Science, and Monash University; funding and time allocation came from bodies like the Australian Research Council, National Science Foundation, and institutional support from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. Over its operational lifetime the survey adapted instrumentation upgrades and personnel changes tied to career paths at University of New South Wales, University of Melbourne, University of Canterbury, and research networks including the International Astronomical Union.

Category:Exoplanet search projects