The Apache Project

..and the transit search from the Italian Alps

M. G. Lattanzi (INAF-OATo) On behalf of the APACHE Team ?

EPSC 2014, Session EX2

“La ricerca dei pianeti extrasolari in Italia”, Progetto Premiale WoW, Roma, INAF Hq, 5-7 nov 2014

ECC Estoril, 9 September 2014

The Low-Mass stars opportunity:

Low-Mass, Small Radius Planets… Especially Around Low-Mass Stars!

At Short Periods (< 50-100 d), They Are Common Occurrence rate of Neptunes and Super Earths: 34% (Bonfils et al. 2013) Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

Wide-Field Transit Surveys: Geographical Distribution

The APACHE Team

Project Management:

• E. Bertolini (Proj. Man. – OAVdA), M.G. Lattanzi (P.M. – OATo) • A. Sozzetti (Proj. Scientist) • P. Calcidese (Technical Man.) • •

INAF-OATo:

– L. Lanteri, M.G. Lattanzi, R. Smart, A. Sozzetti, M. Damasso, P. Giacobbe, L. Gioannini (Master, Physics, UniTo), G. Ranotto (Master student, Physics, UniTo)

OAVdA:

– A. Bernagozzi, P. Calcidese, A. Carbognani, D. Cenadelli, J.M. Christille

Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

• • • • • •

APACHE Input Catalogue ~3000 Northern M0-M5 dwarfs from Lepine & Gaidos (2011) Good visibility, no bright stars in the FoV, not too sparse fields Cross-checks with some 20 catalogues to weed out binaries, active stars, fast rotators Support reconnaissance spectroscopy ongoing (Asiago Red Dwarf Survey) Number of Gaia transits helps to set priorities A subset of high-priority targets is observed in conjunction with HARPS-N@TNG as part of the GAPS Large Program Targets are typically bright (median V~13), potentially good for follow-up Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

Premiale WoW

Kepler’s candidates

INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

The APACHE Site

1675 m a.s.l.

Lignan, Nus (Ao) The Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of the Aosta Valley (OAVdA) OAVdA operates as part of INAF in this extrasolar planet collaboration with OATo. This has been formalized in a recent agreement signed by the INAF President and the OAVdA Director (Bertolini) in 2013.

The APACHEs

Premiale WoW

Operational Bandpass: I

INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

Survey Operations



Fully automated operations: RTS2

control software architecture, including scheduler, pre-processing and storing to NAS system is the choice for the operations  Well-tested

TEEPEE

pipeline on site. Independent reduction with

Robin

(Lanteri 1999). Quasi real-time differential photometry pipeline

TSE

development completed   Observing strategy similar to MEarth North Multi-TBy HP NAS system (Window Server 2008) to cope with the (average) nightly yield of a few thousands of images. .

Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

APACHE goals



Primary Goals:

  Survey largest sample possible of M dwarfs with complete phase coverage for periods (of candidate transiting planets) of up to few-weeks; The same but for the mostly G-K stars constituting the stellar population in the survey fields 

Secondary Goal:

Exploit DB for stellar (micro) variability and characterization of M dwarfs



2.2 years into survey mode

  

To-date, +300 fields monitored Phase coverage >50% for periods up to several days for large fraction of these



Typically, a dozen fields per telescope each night We achieve routinely 3-6 mmag precision



Demonstrated survey sensitivity to > 2 R less than a few days (first year of data) Earth planets with periods

Status

Early Results…..

Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

… And synergies within the Italian efforts

• With the Gaia solar neighborhood survey (see Sozzetti).

• With HARPS-N:

Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014

Last but not least…..



Outreach, Educational, and promotion of science activities, these are all OAVdA strong points.... & You can follow us on the Web at: http://apacheproject.altervista.org/

Conclusions:

APACHE is already an important contribution to the Italian efforts in the field of exoplanet research.

Therefore….

Investments , Cost-to-Completion & Risks

  2.5 years more to go at current quality for APACHE to reach the primary goals.

 Since 2008, Invested over 1 M Euro locally generated by both Institutes (this is ‘cash’, without counting, e.g., OAVdA/OATo “in-kind”). Program currently supported by WoW grant and OATo funds (revenues from different contracts). The uninterrupted support of operations requires: i.

ii.

iii.

iv.

maintain/optimize HW and SW for both imaging system and computing/archiving facilities; Personnel for manning the site during APACHE operations (current regulations preventing full automation. These require two observers on site/observing night); Build 5 focal plane “on-off” field de-rotators to cope with mount flip during observations; Qualified science personnel for data reductions and data exploitation.



Risks: Current support not sufficient to complete program’s primary goals Premiale WoW INAF Hq, 5-7 Nov 2014