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Paper: Planet Detection, Magnetic Field of Protostars and Brown Dwarfs Meteorology with SPIRou
Volume: 448, 16th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun
Page: 771
Authors: Artigau, É.; Donati, J.-F.; Delfosse, X.
Abstract: SPIRou is a near-infrared spectro-polarimeter proposed as a next-generation CFHT instrument that should see first light in 2014. The instrument will consist of a single-object bench-mounted cross-dispersed spectrograph with a complete 0.98–2.40 μm coverage, 1 m/s radial-velocity accuracy and polarimetric capability. The instrument builds largely on the ESPaDOnS (current CFHT spectro-polarimeter) and HARPS (high-resolution spectrograph at La Silla 3.6m) designs and experience. We present here a brief overview of the instrument characteristics and various aspects of its science case. Low-mass stars and brown dwarfs will be prime targets for SPIRou; it is mostly aimed at detecting Earth-like planets in the habitable zone of low-mass stars and at investigating how magnetic fields impact star and planet formation. Other envisioned SPIRou science projects include the Doppler imaging of L and T dwarf weather patterns, the search for Jupiter-mass companions to BDs, spectroscopic binarity of L and T dwarfs and dynamo processes in red and brown dwarfs.
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