University of Pennsylvania Astronomy Seminar

The detection of an Earth twin (an Earth-mass planet orbiting a Sun-like star within the habitable zone) has recently become feasible for the first time thanks to advances in observational technology. The Terra Hunting Experiment is a 10-year-duration upcoming radial velocity (RV) survey dedicated to this goal. I will give an overview of the project and its scientific context within the field of exoplanet discovery. I will also present recent work on designing the survey and developing data analysis tools to address the challenges inherent in detecting sub-meter-per-second amplitude motions of distant stars.