Pedro Figueira
CAUP

Abstract
The detection of extrasolar planets relies heavily on the radial velocity (RV) method, which accounts for the vast majority of the planetary discoveries up to now. Yet, it has been known since the very first announcement by Mayor & Queloz (1995) that this approach is vulnerable to false positives. The potential parasitic signals are often rooted in stellar photospheric effects that deform spectral line profiles and introduce an RV signal which is not rooted on a Doppler shift of the spectral lines.
I will present my last results on the development of two new line-profile indicators. These new indicators will be compared with the current ones, using both synthetic (SOAP) and real (HARPS) data. I will also put the results in context by analyzing the big picture of the line-profile/activity indicators, and what we learned so far about using them to confirm or reject the planetary nature of a signal.

11 September 2013, 13:30

Centro de Astrofísica
Rua das Estrelas
4150-762 Porto