Retrieval of Precise Radial Velocities from Near-Infrared High Resolution Spectra of Low Mass Stars

Given that low-mass stars have intrinsically low luminosities at optical wavelengths and a propensity for stellar activity, it is advantageous for radial velocity (RV) surveys of these objects to use near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths. In this work we describe and test a novel RV extraction pipeline dedicated to retrieving RVs from low mass stars using NIR spectra taken by the CSHELL spectrograph at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility, where a methane isotopologue gas cell is used for wavelength calibration. The Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, California Institute of Technology, MC 150-21, 1200 East California Boulevard, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA; [email protected] Department of Physics, Missouri State University, 901 S National Ave, Springfield, MO 65897, USA Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC 20015, USA Sagan Fellow NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, California Institute of Technology, 770 S. Wilson Ave., Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary University of London, 327 Mile End Rd, E1 4NS, London, UK Centre for Astrophysics Research, University of Hertfordshire, College Lane, AL10 9AB, Hatfield, UK Department of Physics and Astronomy, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA National Center for Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307 Institute for Theory and Computation, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA Lowell Observatory, West Mars Hill Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA Department of Physics & Astronomy, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132, USA Mississippi State University, Department of Physics & Astronomy, Hilbun Hall, Starkville, MS 39762, USA (ESA, European Space Research and Technology Centre) NASA Ames Research Center, MS 245-3, P.O. Box 1, Moffett Field, CA 94035-0001, USA ar X iv :1 60 3. 05 99 7v 1 [ as tr oph .I M ] 1 8 M ar 2 01 6