Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search

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The Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search is a variety of observational programs run by the Geneva Observatory at Versoix, a small town near Geneva, Switzerland. The programs are executed by M. Mayor, D. Naef, F. Pepe, D. Queloz, N.C. Santos, and S. Udry using several telescopes and instruments in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere and have resulted in the discovery of numerous extrasolar planets, including 51 Pegasi b, the first ever confirmed exoplanet orbiting a main-sequence star.

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Programs originated at Geneva are generally conducted in collaboration with several other academic institutions from Belgium, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom. These programs search for exoplanets in various locations using different instruments. These include the Haute-Provence Observatory in France, the TRAPPIST and the Euler Telescope, both located at La Silla Observatory in Chile, as well as the M dwarf programs. Most recent projects involve the HARPS spectrograph, HARPS-N at the island of La Palma, and the Next-Generation Transit Survey located at the Paranal Observatory, northern Chile. [1] [2]

The Integral Science Data Centre is located at Ecogia, which also belongs to the town of Versoix. The centre is linked to the Geneva Observatory and deals with the processing of the data provided by the satellite INTEGRAL of the European Space Agency. [3] On the two sites of Sauverny and Ecogia, a group of approximately 143 people are employed, including scientists, PhD candidates, students, technical staff (computer and electronics specialists, mechanics), as well as administrative staff. [3]

Extrasolar planet search surveys

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swiss 1.2-metre Leonhard Euler Telescope</span>

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HARPS-N, the High Accuracy Radial velocity Planet Searcher for the Northern hemisphere is a high-precision radial-velocity spectrograph, installed at the Italian Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, a 3.58-metre telescope located at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma, Canary Islands, Spain.

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The Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS) is a ground-based robotic search for exoplanets. The facility is located at Paranal Observatory in the Atacama desert in northern Chile, about 2 km from ESO's Very Large Telescope and 0.5 km from the VISTA Survey Telescope. Science operations began in early 2015. The astronomical survey is managed by a consortium of seven European universities and other academic institutions from Chile, Germany, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Prototypes of the array were tested in 2009 and 2010 on La Palma, and from 2012 to 2014 at Geneva Observatory.

References

  1. David Darling, "Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search Programs", The Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Space Flight, May 7, 2007.
  2. Mayer; et al. "The Geneva Extrasolar Planet Search Programmes" . Retrieved 2009-05-25.
  3. 1 2 Observatory of Geneva, University of Geneva, May 7, 2007, "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2005-09-11. Retrieved 2007-05-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)