We investigate the effect of stellar activity and flares on short-term radial velocity measurements in the mid-M flare star CN Leo. Radial velocity variations are calculated from 181 UVES spectra obtained during three nights. We searched for spectral orders that contain very few atmospheric absorption lines and calibrated them against the telluric A-band from O 2 in the Earth's atmosphere. One ...

Of the known transiting extra-solar planets, a few have been detected through photometric follow-up observations of radial velocity planets. Perhaps the best known of these is the transiting exoplanet HD 209458b. For hot Jupiters (periods less than ∼ 5 days), the a priori information that 10% of these planets will transit their parent star due to the geometric transit probability leads to an es...

We present laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) measurements of Xe II (4D7/2) in the FMT2 ion engine plume. Three 605.1 nm beams from a ring dye laser are focused through a single lens into a submillimeter interrogation volume, from which we collect LIF at 529.2 nm. Fourier-transform deconvolution of the LIF spectra returns ion velocity distribution estimates along the three laser beam directions. ...