ELODIE was an
echelle spectrograph
An optical spectrometer (spectrophotometer, spectrograph or spectroscope) is an instrument used to measure properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify mate ...
installed on the 1.93m
reflector at the
Observatoire de Haute-Provence in south-eastern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. Its optical instrumentation was developed by André Baranne from the
Marseille Observatory. The purpose of the instrument was
extrasolar planet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detect ...
detection by the
radial velocity method.
ELODIE's
first light was achieved in 1993. The instrument was decommissioned in August 2006 and replaced in September 2006 by
SOPHIE
Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom".
People with the name Born in the Middle Ages
* Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson
* Soph ...
, a new instrument of the same type but with improved features.
Characteristics
The instrument could observe the
electromagnetic spectrum
The electromagnetic spectrum is the full range of electromagnetic radiation, organized by frequency or wavelength. The spectrum is divided into separate bands, with different names for the electromagnetic waves within each band. From low to high ...
over a
wavelength
In physics and mathematics, wavelength or spatial period of a wave or periodic function is the distance over which the wave's shape repeats.
In other words, it is the distance between consecutive corresponding points of the same ''phase (waves ...
range of 389.5 nm to 681.5 nm in a single exposure, split into 67
spectral orders. The instrument, which was located in a temperature-controlled room, was fed with
optical fibers from the
Cassegrain focus. The observatory provided an integrated data reduction pipeline which fully reduced the
spectra immediately after acquisition and allowed the user to measure
radial velocities to an accuracy as good as ±7 m/s.
Over 34,000 spectra were taken with ELODIE, over 20,000 of which are publicly available through a dedicated on-line archive. The instrument was the result of a collaboration between the observatories of Haute-Provence,
Geneva
Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
and
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
. A publication describing the instrument appeared in ''
Astronomy & Astrophysics Supplements''.
Discovered planets
The first
extrasolar planet
An exoplanet or extrasolar planet is a planet outside the Solar System. The first confirmed detection of an exoplanet was in 1992 around a pulsar, and the first detection around a main-sequence star was in 1995. A different planet, first detect ...
to be discovered orbiting a Sun-like star,
51 Pegasi b
51 Pegasi b, officially named Dimidium (), is an extrasolar planet approximately away in the constellation of Pegasus. It was the first exoplanet to be discovered orbiting a main-sequence star, the Sun-like 51 Pegasi, and marked a breakthr ...
, was discovered in 1995 using ELODIE.
and
Didier Queloz
Didier Patrick Queloz (; born 23 February 1966) is a Swiss astronomer. He is the Jacksonian Professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, where he is also a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, as well as a professor at the ...
received the
Nobel Prize in Physics
The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...
in 2019 for their achievement.
Over twenty such planets have been found with ELODIE.
The instrument was also used to find a planet by the
transit method
Methods of detecting exoplanets usually rely on indirect strategies – that is, they do not directly image the planet but deduce its existence from another signal. Any planet is an extremely faint light source compared to its parent star. For e ...
.
See also
*
CORALIE spectrograph is a similar instrument at
La Silla Observatory
La Silla Observatory is an astronomical observatory in Chile with three telescopes built and operated by the European Southern Observatory (ESO). Several other telescopes are also located at the site and are partly maintained by ESO. The observato ...
in
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
*
List of extrasolar planets
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
References
External links
*
The ELODIE Archive
{{Exoplanet search projects
Spectrographs
Astronomical instruments
Telescope instruments
Exoplanet search projects