HADES RV Programme with HARPS-N at TNG. II.

Such stars, however, present an excellent opportunity for reaching down to the rocky and habitable planet domains. The number of current detections used for statistical purposes remains relatively modest and different surveys, using both photometry and precise radial velocities, are searching for planets around M dwarfs.

Our HARPS-N red dwarf exoplanet survey is aimed at the detection of new planets around a sample of 78 selected stars, together with the subsequent characterization of their activity properties. Here we investigate the survey performance and strategy. From 2700 observed spectra, we compare the radial velocity determinations of the HARPS-N DRS pipeline and the HARPS-TERRA code, calculate the mean activity jitter level, evaluate the planet detection expectations, and address the general question of how to define the strategy of spectroscopic surveys in order to be most efficient in the detection of planets.