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1 M is the brown dwarf desert. 35 M M3 dwarf, Gl 876, has two planets with masses comparable to Jupiter. On the other hand, one might expect an upper limit to the mass distribution to emerge, simply because lower mass stars are likely to have lower mass protoplanetary disks. 2. Metallicities and the thick disk Chemical abundance, particularly individual elemental abundance ratios, serves as a population discriminant for the ESP host stars. Halo stars have long been known to possess α-element abundances (Mg, Ti, O, Ca, Si) that are enhanced by a factor of 2–3 compared to the Sun.

Figure 1 is an isometric view of the photometer. 4 m diameter F/1 primary. 5 hour transit. The focal plane is composed of 42 1024 × 2200 backside-illuminated CCDs with 27 µm pixels. The detector focal plane is at prime focus and is cooled by heat pipes that carry the heat out to a radiator in the shadow of the spacecraft. The low-level electronics are placed immediately behind the focal plane. A four-vane spider supports the focal plane and its electronics and contains the power- and signal-cables and the heat pipes.

Classical signal-detection algorithms that whiten the stellar noise, fold the data to superimpose multiple transits, and apply matched filters are employed to search for the transit patterns down to the statistical noise limit (6). From measurements of the period, change in brightness and known stellar type, the planetary size, and the semi-major axis, the characteristic temperature of the planet can be determined. , whether the planet is in the habitable zone. Because of the limitations on the telemetry stream, only data from those pixels illuminated by the pre-selected target stars are saved for transmission to Earth.