A robust software interface for a green astro-comb: remote control and automation

Using the Doppler effect to search for exoplanets is a powerful technique. State-of-the-art spectrographs such as HARPS-N at the Italian National Telescope are the workhorse tools in such searches. Though their stability is excellent, it isn’t sufficient to detect Earth-like planets around Sun-like stars due to the extremely small Doppler shifts associated with such systems (~100 kHz shifts of optical transitions). A visible wavelength, broadband 16 GHz laser frequency comb (astro-comb) can precisely calibrate spectra to resolve these Doppler shifts, but operation of this instrument requires maintenance and laser expertise. Here, we report on the successful development and implementation of a LabVIEW program that remotely operates an astro-comb and has automation features, relieving the need for on-site scientists at the Italian National Telescope on the Canary Islands and making this tool accessible to a larger community of researchers.