Project Overview
Objectives
The HARPS-N spectrograph is a high-precision radial-velocity instrument, similar to HARPS on the 3.6-m ESO telescope in Chile. It will be located in the Northern hemisphereand installed at the TNG on La Palma Island (Canary Islands) to allow for synergy with the NASA Kepler mission. The main scientific rationale of HARPS-N is the characterization and discovery of terrestrial planets by combining transits and Doppler measurements.
The HARPS-N Project is a collaboration between the Astronomical Observatory of the Geneva University (lead), the CfA in Cambridge, the Universities of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, the Queens University of Belfast, and the TNG-INAF Observatory.
Management
Principal Investigator
Francesco Pepe, Observatoire de l'Université de Genève, CH
Co-Principal Investigators
Dave Latham, Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge USA
Stéphane Udry, Observatoire de l'Université de Genève, CH
Andrew Collier Cameron, University of St. Andrews, UK
Ennio Poretti (replacing Emilio Molinari), INAF-Telescopio Nazionale Galileo, Italy
Project Management
Francesco Pepe, Observatoire de l'Université de Genève, CH
David Lunney, Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh, UK
System Engineering
Francesco Pepe, Observatoire de l'Université de Genève, CH
Andy Born, Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh, UK
Software System Engineering:
Andy Vick, Astronomy Technology Centre, Edinburgh, UK
Danuta Sosnowska, Observatoire de l'Université de Genève, CH
Collaborating Institutes
Observatoire Astronomique de l’Université de Genève, CH (Head)
Harvard-Smithonian Center for Astrophysics, Cambridge, USA
SUPA University of St. Andrews, UK
SUPA University of Edinburgh, UK
Project Schedule
Milestone | Date |
---|---|
Kick Off | September 1st, 2010 |
Start of integration | October 1st, 2011 |
Acceptance Geneva | January 1st, 2012 |
Commissioning | March/April 2012 |
Inauguration | April 23rd, 2012 |
Start of operations Open time |
May 1st, 2012 August 1st, 2012 |