Caty Pilachowski
KPNO
Sam Barden
KPNO
The Stellar Oscillations Network Group (SONG) seeks to study p-mode (acoustic) oscillations in solar type stars. These are difficult phenomena to detect due to the limited amplitude of the oscillations in integrated light. Success will require continuous observing sessions over many pulsation cycles, preferably with multiple telescopes staggered in longitude, similar to the GONG project.
Such oscillations can only be detected as a beat frequency relative to some extremely regular inertial observing cadence. The phase of the cadence must be maintained, both between widely separated telescopes and between observing sessions that may be separated by months.
We discuss techniques that can be used to improve the observing efficiency and thus the likelihood of detection. Precisely identical data handling and reduction steps for tens or hundreds of thousands of spectra are critical to success.