Project support for the Wide Area Search for Planets
Lead Research Organisation:
University of St Andrews
Department Name: Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
Questions such as ``how many stars have planets around them?'' and ``how many habitable planets are there?'' interest both astronomers and everyone else. To answer them we need to find planets that can be studied in detail, seeking to understand the processes by which planets form and solar systems evolve. Of the two hundred planets that astronomers have found orbiting other stars we can learn most about those that transit in front of their star. We can measure how big they are, how heavy they are, and thus deduce their density and what they are made of. And by looking at how their atmosphere absorbs the light of their star we can discover the composition of their atmospheres. The WASP project aims to monitor 40 million of the brightest stars, looking for the tiny dips in their light caused by a planet passing in front of them. We will survey the sky for the transiting planets that are relatively close to Earth, which we can study in detail to enable us to understand how planetary systems form and evolve. The next generation of space missions, such as the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble, will prioritize the study of planets around other stars. The WASP project will find the planets that will make the best and most interesting targets.
Publications
Blecic J
(2014)
SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OF THE THERMAL EMISSION FROM WASP-43b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Nymeyer S
(2011)
SPITZER SECONDARY ECLIPSES OF WASP-18b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bonnell IA
(2008)
Star formation around supermassive black holes.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Barstow M
(2008)
Stellar And Galactic Environment survey (SAGE)
in Experimental Astronomy
Barstow M
(2008)
Stellar and galactic environment survey (SAGE)
in Astrophysics and Space Science
Vidotto A
(2014)
Stellar magnetism: empirical trends with age and rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Delorme P
(2011)
Stellar rotation in the Hyades and Praesepe: gyrochronology and braking time-scale Stellar rotation in the Hyades and Praesepe: gyrochronology and braking time-scale
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barber J
(2012)
Stirring N -body systems: universality of end states Stirring in N -body systems: universality
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barber J
(2014)
Stirring N-body systems - II. Necessary conditions for the dark matter attractor
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smalley B
(2011)
SuperWASP observations of pulsating Am stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Kane S
(2008)
SuperWASP-N extrasolar planet candidates from fields 06 h < RA < 16 h
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hussain G
(2009)
Surface magnetic fields on two accreting T Tauri stars: CV Cha and CR Cha
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Galianni P
(2012)
Testing quasilinear modified Newtonian dynamics in the Solar System
in Physical Review D
Aigrain S
(2015)
Testing the recovery of stellar rotation signals from Kepler light curves using a blind hare-and-hounds exercise
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Skillen I
(2009)
The 0.5 M J transiting exoplanet WASP-13b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Howard C
(2008)
The Bulge Radial Velocity Assay (BRAVA). I. Sample Selection and a Rotation Curve
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bi X
(2008)
The diffuse Galactic ?-rays from dark matter annihilation
in Physics Letters B
Miller G
(2010)
The Doppler shadow of WASP-3b A tomographic analysis of Rossiter-McLaughlin observations
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Triaud A
(2012)
The EBLM project I. Physical and orbital parameters, including spin-orbit angles, of two low-mass eclipsing binaries on opposite sides of the brown dwarf limit
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gómez Maqueo Chew Y
(2014)
The EBLM project II. A very hot, low-mass M dwarf in an eccentric and long-period, eclipsing binary system from the SuperWASP Survey?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Dale J
(2008)
The effect of stellar winds on the formation of a protocluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Butters O
(2010)
The first WASP public data release
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Covino E
(2013)
The GAPS programme with HARPS-N at TNG I. Observations of the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect and characterisation of the transiting system Qatar-1?????
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Von Braun K
(2012)
THE GJ 436 SYSTEM: DIRECTLY DETERMINED ASTROPHYSICAL PARAMETERS OF AN M DWARF AND IMPLICATIONS FOR THE TRANSITING HOT NEPTUNE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Mortier A
(2016)
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXIX. HD 175607, the most metal-poor G dwarf with an orbiting sub-Neptune
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Díaz R
(2016)
The HARPS search for southern extra-solar planets XXXVIII. Bayesian re-analysis of three systems. New super-Earths, unconfirmed signals, and magnetic cycles ???
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Motalebi F
(2015)
The HARPS-N Rocky Planet Search I. HD 219134 b: A transiting rocky planet in a multi-planet system at 6.5 pc from the Sun ?
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gómez Maqueo Chew Y
(2013)
THE HOMOGENEOUS STUDY OF TRANSITING SYSTEMS (HoSTS). I. THE PILOT STUDY OF WASP-13
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dumusque X
(2014)
THE KEPLER-10 PLANETARY SYSTEM REVISITED BY HARPS-N: A HOT ROCKY WORLD AND A SOLID NEPTUNE-MASS PLANET
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gettel S
(2016)
THE KEPLER-454 SYSTEM: A SMALL, NOT-ROCKY INNER PLANET, A JOVIAN WORLD, AND A DISTANT COMPANION
in The Astrophysical Journal
West R
(2009)
THE LOW DENSITY TRANSITING EXOPLANET WASP-15b
in The Astronomical Journal
Dressing C
(2015)
THE MASS OF Kepler-93b AND THE COMPOSITION OF TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bentley S
(2009)
The masses and radii of HD 186753B and TYC7096-222-1B: the discovery of two M-dwarfs that eclipse A-type stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Wild V
(2014)
The Mice at play in the CALIFA survey A case study of a gas-rich major merger between first passage and coalescence
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Alsubai K.A.
(2013)
The Qatar Exoplanet Survey
in Acta Astronomica
Wang X
(2013)
The refined physical parameters of transiting exoplanet system HAT-P-24
in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Wang X
(2014)
THE REFINED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEM WASP-11/HAT-P-10
in The Astronomical Journal
Tian L
(2009)
The relation between stellar mass and weak lensing signal around galaxies: implications for modified Newtonian dynamics
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Triaud A
(2009)
The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of CoRoT-3b and HD 189733b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Llama J
(2011)
The shocking transit of WASP-12b: modelling the observed early ingress in the near-ultraviolet The shocking transit of WASP-12b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Simpson E
(2010)
The spin-orbit alignment of the transiting exoplanet WASP-3b from Rossiter-McLaughlin observations
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Simpson E
(2011)
The spin-orbit angles of the transiting exoplanets WASP-1b, WASP-24b, WASP-38b and HAT-P-8b from Rossiter-McLaughlin observations? The spin-orbit alignment of 4 exoplanets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Clark P
(2008)
The star formation efficiency and its relation to variations in the initial mass function
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
West R
(2009)
The sub-Jupiter mass transiting exoplanet WASP-11b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Rostron J
(2014)
The thermal emission of the exoplanet WASP-3b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gillon M
(2010)
The thermal emission of the young and massive planet CoRoT-2b at 4.5 and 8 µ m
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Gillon M
(2012)
The TRAPPIST survey of southern transiting planets I. Thirty eclipses of the ultra-short period planet WASP-43 b??????
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anderson D
(2015)
THE WELL-ALIGNED ORBIT OF WASP-84b: EVIDENCE FOR DISK MIGRATION OF A HOT JUPITER
in The Astrophysical Journal
Anderson D
(2013)
Thermal emission at 3.6-8 µm from WASP-19b: a hot Jupiter without a stratosphere orbiting an active star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Anderson D
(2011)
Thermal emission at 4.5 and 8 µm of WASP-17b, an extremely large planet in a slightly eccentric orbit Thermal emission at 4.5 and 8 µm of WASP-17b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Description | SuperWASP is the UK's leading extra-solar planet detection program comprised of a consortium of eight academic institutions. SuperWASP consists of two robotic observatories that operate continuously throughout the year, allowing coverage of both hemispheres of the sky. The first, SuperWASP-North, is located on the island of La Palma among the Isaac Newton Group (ING) of telescopes. The second, SuperWASP-South, is located at the site of the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), just outside Sutherland, South Africa. The observatories each consist of eight wide-angle cameras that simultaneously monitor the sky for planetary transit events. The eight cameras allow the monitoring of millions of stars simultaneously, enabling the detection of rare transit events. WASP has to date yielded over 150 discoveries of giant planets in close orbits about their host stars, making it the world's leading ground-based transit survey. |
Exploitation Route | Education; Data mining of public archive. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education |
URL | http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/docs/SuperWASPMission.html |
Description | WASP planet discoveries formed the basis for a number of successful press releases. |
First Year Of Impact | 2008 |
Sector | Education |
Impact Types | Cultural,Policy & public services |
Description | WASP |
Organisation | Keele University |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design and implementation of WASP data-analysis pipeline. Design and implementation of WASP transit-search software. Design and implementation of WASP transit-fitting and orbit-determination software. |
Collaborator Contribution | QUB: Fabrication, installation and operation of SuperWASP. Keele: Fabrication, installation and operation of WASP-South. Leicester: Design, implementation and maintenance of WASP data archive. |
Impact | Over 200 Publications |
Description | WASP |
Organisation | Open University |
Department | School of Physical Sciences |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design and implementation of WASP data-analysis pipeline. Design and implementation of WASP transit-search software. Design and implementation of WASP transit-fitting and orbit-determination software. |
Collaborator Contribution | QUB: Fabrication, installation and operation of SuperWASP. Keele: Fabrication, installation and operation of WASP-South. Leicester: Design, implementation and maintenance of WASP data archive. |
Impact | Over 200 Publications |
Description | WASP |
Organisation | Queen's University Belfast |
Department | Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design and implementation of WASP data-analysis pipeline. Design and implementation of WASP transit-search software. Design and implementation of WASP transit-fitting and orbit-determination software. |
Collaborator Contribution | QUB: Fabrication, installation and operation of SuperWASP. Keele: Fabrication, installation and operation of WASP-South. Leicester: Design, implementation and maintenance of WASP data archive. |
Impact | Over 200 Publications |
Description | WASP |
Organisation | University of Leicester |
Department | Department of Physics & Astronomy |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Design and implementation of WASP data-analysis pipeline. Design and implementation of WASP transit-search software. Design and implementation of WASP transit-fitting and orbit-determination software. |
Collaborator Contribution | QUB: Fabrication, installation and operation of SuperWASP. Keele: Fabrication, installation and operation of WASP-South. Leicester: Design, implementation and maintenance of WASP data archive. |
Impact | Over 200 Publications |