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
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
Deleuil M
(2008)
Transiting exoplanets from the CoRoT space mission VI. CoRoT-Exo-3b: the first secure inhabitant of the brown-dwarf desert
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Davies C
(2014)
Accretion discs as regulators of stellar angular momentum evolution in the ONC and Taurus-Auriga
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
David T
(2015)
HII 2407: AN ECLIPSING BINARY REVEALED BY K2 OBSERVATIONS OF THE PLEIADES
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dale J
(2008)
The effect of stellar winds on the formation of a protocluster
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
Clarke C
(2008)
Accretion-driven core collapse and the collisional formation of massive stars
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
Christian D
(2009)
WASP-10b: a 3M J , gas-giant planet transiting a late-type K star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Campo C
(2011)
ON THE ORBIT OF EXOPLANET WASP-12b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Cameron AC
(2012)
Extrasolar planets: Astrophysical false positives.
in Nature
Cameron A
(2010)
Line-profile tomography of exoplanet transits - II. A gas-giant planet transiting a rapidly rotating A5 star? A gas-giant planet transiting an A5 star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Butters O
(2010)
The first WASP public data release
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Bryan M
(2014)
ERRATUM: "QATAR-2: A K DWARF ORBITED BY A TRANSITING HOT JUPITER AND A MORE MASSIVE COMPANION IN AN OUTER ORBIT" (2012, ApJ, 750, 84)
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bryan M
(2012)
QATAR-2: A K DWARF ORBITED BY A TRANSITING HOT JUPITER AND A MORE MASSIVE COMPANION IN AN OUTER ORBIT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Brown D
(2011)
Do falling planets cause stellar spin-up?
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Brown D
(2011)
Are falling planets spinning up their host stars? Are falling planets spinning up their host stars?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brown D
(2012)
Rossiter-McLaughlin effect measurements for WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31? The alignment of WASP-16, WASP-25 and WASP-31
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brown D
(2014)
Discrepancies between isochrone fitting and gyrochronology for exoplanet host stars?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Brown D
(2012)
ANALYSIS OF SPIN-ORBIT ALIGNMENT IN THE WASP-32, WASP-38, AND HAT-P-27/WASP-40 SYSTEMS
in The Astrophysical Journal
Brothwell R
(2014)
A window on exoplanet dynamical histories: Rossiter-McLaughlin observations of WASP-13b and WASP-32b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Breedt E
(2009)
Long-term optical and X-ray variability of the Seyfert galaxy Markarian 79
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Bouchy F
(2010)
WASP-21b: a hot-Saturn exoplanet transiting a thick disc star
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Bonomo A
(2014)
Characterization of the planetary system Kepler-101 with HARPS-N A hot super-Neptune with an Earth-sized low-mass companion
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Bonomo A
(2015)
Characterization of small planets with Kepler and HARPS-N
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Bonnell IA
(2008)
Star formation around supermassive black holes.
in Science (New York, N.Y.)
Bonnell I
(2008)
Gravitational fragmentation and the formation of brown dwarfs in stellar clusters Formation of brown dwarfs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Blecic J
(2014)
SPITZER OBSERVATIONS OF THE THERMAL EMISSION FROM WASP-43b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bi X
(2008)
The diffuse Galactic ?-rays from dark matter annihilation
in Physics Letters B
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
Barstow M
(2008)
Stellar and galactic environment survey (SAGE)
in Astrophysics and Space Science
Barstow M
(2008)
Stellar And Galactic Environment survey (SAGE)
in Experimental Astronomy
Barros S.C.C.
(2011)
WASP-38b: A transiting exoplanet in an eccentric, 6.87d period orbit
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Barros S
(2010)
WASP-38b: a transiting exoplanet in an eccentric, 6.87d period orbit
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Barros S
(2014)
Revisiting the transits of CoRoT-7b at a lower activity level
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Barnes J
(2008)
HD 179949b: a close orbiting extrasolar giant planet with a stratosphere?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Barnes J
(2014)
Photoionization and heating of a supernova-driven turbulent interstellar medium
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)
On radial anisotropy limits in stellar systems
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
Baldry I
(2014)
Galaxy And Mass Assembly (GAMA): AUTOZ spectral redshift measurements, confidence and errors
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Armstrong D
(2014)
On the abundance of circumbinary planets
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Antel C
(2014)
Investigating Dunedin whistlers using volcanic lightning
in Geophysical Research Letters
Anderson D
(2011)
WASP-30b: A 61 M Jup BROWN DWARF TRANSITING A V = 12, F8 STAR
in The Astrophysical Journal
Anderson D
(2011)
Spin-orbit measurements and refined parameters for the exoplanet systems WASP-22 and WASP-26
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anderson D
(2010)
H -band thermal emission from the 19-h period planet WASP-19b
in Astronomy and 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
(2008)
WASP-5b: a dense, very hot Jupiter transiting a 12th-mag Southern-hemisphere star
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Anderson D
(2015)
WASP-20b and WASP-28b: a hot Saturn and a hot Jupiter in near-aligned orbits around solar-type stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anderson D
(2010)
WASP-17b: AN ULTRA-LOW DENSITY PLANET IN A PROBABLE RETROGRADE ORBIT
in The Astrophysical Journal
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 |