Extreme Doppler precision with octagonal fiber scramblers

The detection of Earth analogs with radial velocity requires long-term precision of 10 cm/s. One of the factors limiting precision is variation in instrumental profile from observation to observation due to changes in the illumination of the slit and spectrograph optics. Fiber optics are naturally efficient scramblers. Our research is focused on understanding the scrambling properties of fibers with different geometries. We have characterized circular and octagonal fibers in terms of focal ratio degradation, near-field and far-field distributions. We have characterized these fibers using a bench-mounted high-resolution spectrograph: the Yale Doppler Diagnostics Facility (YDDF).

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