Upgrading the SONG instruments
Name of applicant
Frank Grundahl
Institution
Aarhus University
Amount
DKK 1,218,781
Year
2021
Type of grant
Research Infrastructure
Summary
The aim of this project is to upgrade the science cameras for the two existing observatories in the Stellar Observations Network Group (SONG) located in Tenerife and Astrailia. This upgrade will improve the scientific capabilities of the network. SONG aims to do detailed studies of the interior structure of bright, nearby, stars which are also visible to the naked eye and to discover planets in orbit around stars other than the Sun (exoplanets). This upgrade will enable the detection of planets with smaller masses than before. We study both the interior of stars and detect exoplanets using the same observational technique. By measuring ultra-precise velocities for stars we can detect very small motions of their surfaces from by processes inside the star and due to the orbit of a planet.