The Automated Planet Finder (APF) is a facility purpose-built for the discovery and characterization of extrasolar planets through high cadence Doppler velocimetry of the reflex barycentric accelerations of their host stars. Located atop Mt. Hamilton, the APF facility consists of a 2.4-m telescope and its Levy Spectrometer, an optical echelle spectrometer optimized for precision Doppler velocimetry. APF features a fixed format spectral range from 374 nm -970 nm, and delivers a "Throughput" (resolution * slit width product) of 114,000 arc-seconds, with spectral resolutions up to 150,000.Overall system efficiency (fraction of photons incident on the primary mirror that are detected by the science CCD) on blaze at 560 nm in planet-hunting mode is 15%. Firstlight tests on the RV standard stars HD 185144 and HD 9407 demonstrate sub-m s −1 precision (RMS per observation) held over a 3-month period. This paper reviews the basic features of the telescope, dome, and spectrometer, and gives a brief summary of first-light performance.

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Our results demonstrated FtLI was likely at early gestation (<28 weeks) and FtLM was probable beyond 35 weeks. Discordance for FtLM was likely at 32 weeks; therefore, clinicians should guard against complacency that this gestational mark assures an uncomplicated respiratory course for all infants within the set.