NExScI provides access to a variety of observing resources in support of community research primarily in exoplanets, but also general astrophysics and planetary science.
The cornerstone of the NExScI supported observing resources is the NASA Keck Time. NExScI manages NASA's partnership with the W. M. Keck Observatory. Both Keck 1 and Keck 2 telescopes and all instruments are available to the community for exoplanet, astrophysical, and planetary science observations. More information on Keck instrumentation and how to apply for NASA Keck time can be found here. in Waimea, Hawaii. The Keck telescopes are two 10-meter aperture telescopes whose primary mirrors are each composed of thirty-six 2 meter mirror segments.
NASA and the National Science Foundation have established the NASA-NSF Exoplanet Observational Research (NN-Explore) partnership to support community exoplanet research. The NN-Explore program was created in response to the community need for observational resources for exoplanet discovery and characterization. There are multiple resources available to the community through this partnership; more information on how to apply for time through the NN-Explore Program can be found at the NOIRLab Call for Proposals
The cornerstone of the NN-Explore Program is the NASA partnership on the WIYN telescope located at Kitt Peak Observatory. The premiere instrument on the telescope is the high precision radial velocity machine NEID which is a high resolution spectrometer capable of radial velocity precisions of 30 cm/s. The NEID Data Archive is operated by NExScI. Also available on WIYN is the high spatial resolution optical speckle imager NN-Explore Exoplanet Stellar Speckle Imager (NESSI). Other instruments available to the community include WHIRC, Hydra, and ODI.
CHIRON on the SMARTS 1.5m telescope located at the Cerro-Tololo Observatory is a fiber-fed high resolution spectrometer capable of radial velocity precisions of a few meters per second. Through the NOIRLab partnership in the SMARTS consortium, NASA has made available time for exoplanet confirmation and characterization - especially for TESS planetary candidates.
A more complete description about the CHIRON instrument and its capabilities can be found here.
Minerva-Australis is an array of 0.7m telescopes all feeding a single precision spectrograph. The facility is located at Mt. Kent and is able reach radial velocity precisions of a few meters per second. Through the NN-Explore partnership, NASA has made available time for exoplanet confirmation and characterization - especially for TESS planetary candidates. Please read more information here.
(last updated March 1st, 2023 12:12:51)
The NASA Exoplanet Science Institute is operated by the California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration under the Exoplanet Exploration Program.
