Terra Hunting Experiment
@terrahunting.bsky.social
Using the HARPS3 spectrograph for a 10-year radial velocity survey to discover Earth-like planets around solar-like stars. https://www.terrahunting.org/ #exoplanets #astronomy #instrumentation
A dawn delivery to the Isaac Newton Telescope this morning ... HARPS3 shipping containers arrive!!!
October 23, 2025 at 9:10 PM
A dawn delivery to the Isaac Newton Telescope this morning ... HARPS3 shipping containers arrive!!!
HARPS3 arrives in the Canary Islands today! Next stop ... La Palma!
October 2, 2025 at 3:39 PM
HARPS3 arrives in the Canary Islands today! Next stop ... La Palma!
Today HARPS3 is leaving the nest and migrating south!
September 8, 2025 at 9:14 AM
Today HARPS3 is leaving the nest and migrating south!
The HARPS3 science-grade CCD is installed in the detector head - hooray! Images below show the CCD after installation into the chip carrier and then afterwards when it is sealed behind the last lens/cryostat window ready for vacuum pumping (and then cooling) ...
July 18, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The HARPS3 science-grade CCD is installed in the detector head - hooray! Images below show the CCD after installation into the chip carrier and then afterwards when it is sealed behind the last lens/cryostat window ready for vacuum pumping (and then cooling) ...
Today's the day we switch out the engineering grade CCD with the science grade (0) CCD! << Deep breath, steady hands >>
July 17, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Today's the day we switch out the engineering grade CCD with the science grade (0) CCD! << Deep breath, steady hands >>
Because you can never see too many rainbows, and the HARPS3 grism is just so awesome ... take a look at the HARPS3 lab through the eye of the grism
May 28, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Because you can never see too many rainbows, and the HARPS3 grism is just so awesome ... take a look at the HARPS3 lab through the eye of the grism
... and the picture of the grism in its holder just before installation - how beautiful is this?!
May 28, 2025 at 1:11 PM
... and the picture of the grism in its holder just before installation - how beautiful is this?!
I'm running a bit behind with the news from the lab! Not long after my last post, we installed the grism (grating + prism = grism) - the HARPS3 cross-disperser which separates the high-order overlapping diffraction orders. The world looks rainbow beautiful through the grism! 😍
May 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM
I'm running a bit behind with the news from the lab! Not long after my last post, we installed the grism (grating + prism = grism) - the HARPS3 cross-disperser which separates the high-order overlapping diffraction orders. The world looks rainbow beautiful through the grism! 😍
... last week we installed the camera objective to the underside of the custom optical table (which fits in a large vacuum vessel). The camera objective consists of a set of 6 custom lenses - 5 of which are mounted in the barrel shown on the photo and the 6th is the detector cryostat window.
May 15, 2025 at 3:58 PM
... last week we installed the camera objective to the underside of the custom optical table (which fits in a large vacuum vessel). The camera objective consists of a set of 6 custom lenses - 5 of which are mounted in the barrel shown on the photo and the 6th is the detector cryostat window.
The newly refurbished/roboticized Isaac Newton Telescope @INGLaPalma detects its first Saturn-mass planet ;-) ... HARPS3 has an awesome telescope to install on! #INT-Preliminary-Acceptance-passed #ProjectSoft.cz #robotic-telescope-ops
May 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
The newly refurbished/roboticized Isaac Newton Telescope @INGLaPalma detects its first Saturn-mass planet ;-) ... HARPS3 has an awesome telescope to install on! #INT-Preliminary-Acceptance-passed #ProjectSoft.cz #robotic-telescope-ops
A truckload full of HARPS3 goodies is on its way from @obsge to @DeptofPhysics ... exciting times!
May 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
A truckload full of HARPS3 goodies is on its way from @obsge to @DeptofPhysics ... exciting times!
some of the tiniest optics in HARPS3. Never let it be said optics can't be cute :) (no optics were harmed/defaced in the making of this image! :D
May 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
some of the tiniest optics in HARPS3. Never let it be said optics can't be cute :) (no optics were harmed/defaced in the making of this image! :D
We had an awesome visit toyesterday. Thanks to the great team (group lead @DerryckReid) there for showing us their amazing research, including the prototype HARPS3 laser frequency-comb🤩 ... the most high-tech rainbow you'll ever see! 🌈
ultrafast.hw.ac.uk
ultrafast.hw.ac.uk
May 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
We had an awesome visit toyesterday. Thanks to the great team (group lead @DerryckReid) there for showing us their amazing research, including the prototype HARPS3 laser frequency-comb🤩 ... the most high-tech rainbow you'll ever see! 🌈
ultrafast.hw.ac.uk
ultrafast.hw.ac.uk
YES! The monster HARPS3 vacuum vessel is in the lab. Awesome!
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
YES! The monster HARPS3 vacuum vessel is in the lab. Awesome!
What's that coming over the hill (well, round the corner)? ... Is it a monster?
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
What's that coming over the hill (well, round the corner)? ... Is it a monster?
We've left you guessing long enough ... it was the impressive HARPS3 Echelle grating! (optics heart of the spectrograph
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
We've left you guessing long enough ... it was the impressive HARPS3 Echelle grating! (optics heart of the spectrograph
Any guesses what it is yet? (clue: we ordered this item 2 years ago!) :
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Any guesses what it is yet? (clue: we ordered this item 2 years ago!) :
... none of the shock sensors have been activated. Phew!
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
... none of the shock sensors have been activated. Phew!
HARPS3 had a big delivery today!
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
HARPS3 had a big delivery today!
The shiny new lab for the HARPS3 AIT is open for business :
May 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The shiny new lab for the HARPS3 AIT is open for business :
