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
Smith A
(2011)
Thermal emission from WASP-33b, the hottest known planet? Thermal emission from WASP-33b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Smith A
(2012)
WASP-36b: A NEW TRANSITING PLANET AROUND A METAL-POOR G-DWARF, AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO ANALYSES BASED ON A SINGLE TRANSIT LIGHT CURVE
in The Astronomical Journal
Smith A
(2014)
WASP-104b and WASP-106b: two transiting hot Jupiters in 1.75-day and 9.3-day orbits
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Southworth J
(2009)
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE 0.94-DAY PERIOD TRANSITING PLANETARY SYSTEM WASP-18
in The Astrophysical Journal
Southworth J
(2014)
High-precision photometry by telescope defocussing - VI. WASP-24, WASP-25 and WASP-26?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Southworth J
(2009)
High-precision photometry by telescope defocusing - I. The transiting planetary system WASP-5
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Spada F
(2011)
Modelling the rotational evolution of solar-like stars: the rotational coupling time-scale Rotational evolution of solar-like stars
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Street R
(2010)
WASP-24 b: A NEW TRANSITING CLOSE-IN HOT JUPITER ORBITING A LATE F-STAR
in The Astrophysical Journal
Sun L
(2015)
Long-term transit timing monitoring and homogenous study of WASP-32
in Research in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Teixeira P
(2009)
INFRARED SPECTROGRAPH CHARACTERIZATION OF A DEBRIS DISK AROUND AN M-TYPE STAR IN NGC 2547
in The Astrophysical 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
(2014)
Spin-Orbit Angles as a Probe to Orbital Evolution
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
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
Triaud A
(2009)
The Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of CoRoT-3b and HD 189733b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Triaud A
(2010)
Spin-orbit angle measurements for six southern transiting planets New insights into the dynamical origins of hot Jupiters???
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Triaud A
(2015)
WASP-80b has a dayside within the T-dwarf range
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Triaud A
(2013)
WASP-80b: a gas giant transiting a cool dwarf
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Triaud A
(2011)
WASP-23b: a transiting hot Jupiter around a K dwarf and its Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Tsapras Y
(2009)
RoboNet-II: Follow-up observations of microlensing events with a robotic network of telescopes
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Vanderburg A
(2015)
CHARACTERIZING K2 PLANET DISCOVERIES: A SUPER-EARTH TRANSITING THE BRIGHT K DWARF HIP 116454
in The Astrophysical Journal
Vidotto A
(2011)
Shock formation around planets orbiting M-dwarf stars
in Astronomische Nachrichten
Vidotto A
(2014)
Stellar magnetism: empirical trends with age and rotation
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Vidotto A. A.
(2015)
Cool Stars and Space Weather
in 18th Cambridge Workshop on Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun
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
Wang X
(2014)
THE REFINED PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF TRANSITING EXOPLANETARY SYSTEM WASP-11/HAT-P-10
in The Astronomical 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 |