Pipeline

Solar Calibration: Validating the Pipeline Against the Sun

Before we analyze any exoplanet host star, we prove the pipeline recovers the right answer for a star we already know

Entry in progress

Coming June 2026

This entry will document the solar calibration run — using direct solar observations from the HARPS spectrograph (ESO Program 1102.D-0954(A), PI: Xavier Dumusque, University of Geneva), processed through the full pipeline identically to science targets. These are direct solar feed observations, not reflected sunlight from an asteroid.

Pipeline step 2 / 6

The calibration criterion: our pipeline must recover A(Fe)☉ = 7.46 ± 0.05 (Asplund et al. 2021) and C/O☉ = 0.55 ± 0.05 from the solar spectrum. The dataset consists of 10 HARPS S1D solar exposures (ESO Program 1102.D-0954(A), PI: Dumusque) acquired as a direct solar feed — the Sun itself, not reflected sunlight from Ceres or Vesta — with SNR 306–309 per exposure. If the pipeline doesn't recover the reference values, there's a systematic error somewhere in the chain — continuum normalization, line list, model atmosphere, or abundance solver — and we go hunting before touching 55 Cancri A.

This entry will publish when the calibration run is complete and the numbers are in.