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### Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems • new

Rubidium-traced white-light etalon calibrator for radial velocity measurements at the cm s−1 level
Author(s): Julian Stürmer; Andreas Seifahrt; Christian Schwab; Jacob L. Bean
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Paper Abstract

We report on the construction and testing of a vacuum-gap Fabry–Pérot etalon calibrator for high precision radial velocity spectrographs. Our etalon is traced against a rubidium frequency standard to provide a cost effective, yet ultra precise wavelength reference. We describe here a turn-key system working at 500 to 900 nm, ready to be installed at any current and next-generation radial velocity spectrograph that requires calibration over a wide spectral bandpass. Where appropriate, we have used off-the-shelf, commercial components with demonstrated long-term performance to accelerate the development timescale of this instrument. Our system combines for the first time the advantages of passively stabilized etalons for optical and near-infrared wavelengths with the laser-locking technique demonstrated for single-mode fiber etalons. We realize uncertainties in the position of one etalon line at the $10 cm s − 1$ level in individual measurements taken at 4 Hz. When binning the data over 10 s, we are able to trace the etalon line with a precision of better than $3 cm s − 1$ . We present data obtained during a week of continuous operation where we detect (and correct for) the predicted, but previously unobserved shrinking of the etalon Zerodur spacer corresponding to a shift of $13 cm s − 1$ per day.

Paper Details

Date Published: 13 June 2017
PDF: 10 pages
J. Ast. Inst. Sys. 3(2) 025003 doi: 10.1117/1.JATIS.3.2.025003
Published in: Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems Volume 3, Issue 2
Show Author Affiliations
Julian Stürmer, The Univ. of Chicago (United States)
Andreas Seifahrt, The Univ. of Chicago (United States)
Christian Schwab, Macquarie Univ. (Australia)
Australian Astronomical Observatory (Australia)
Jacob L. Bean, The Univ. of Chicago (United States)