Project support for the Wide Area Search for Planets
Lead Research Organisation:
Queen's University Belfast
Department Name: Sch of Mathematics and Physics
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.
Organisations
Publications
Madhusudhan N
(2011)
A high C/O ratio and weak thermal inversion in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-12b.
in Nature
Lendl M
(2012)
WASP-42 b and WASP-49 b: two new transiting sub-Jupiters
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hébrard G
(2013)
WASP-52b, WASP-58b, WASP-59b, and WASP-60b: Four new transiting close-in giant planets
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hsieh H
(2010)
SuperWASP observations of the 2007 outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes SuperWASP observations of 17P/Holmes
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hrudková M
(2010)
Tight constraints on the existence of additional planets around HD 189733
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hidas M
(2010)
An ingress and a complete transit of HD 80606 b Ingress and complete transit of HD 80606 b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hellier C
(2014)
Transiting hot Jupiters from WASP-South, Euler and TRAPPIST: WASP-95b to WASP-101b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hellier C
(2010)
WASP-29b: A SATURN-SIZED TRANSITING EXOPLANET
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hellier C
(2012)
Seven transiting hot Jupiters from WASP-South, Euler and TRAPPIST: WASP-47b, WASP-55b, WASP-61b, WASP-62b, WASP-63b, WASP-66b and WASP-67b WASP-South hot Jupiters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Hellier C
(2011)
WASP-43b: the closest-orbiting hot Jupiter
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hellier C
(2011)
The WASP-South search for transiting exoplanets
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Hebb L
(2010)
WASP-19b: THE SHORTEST PERIOD TRANSITING EXOPLANET YET DISCOVERED
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hebb L
(2010)
MML 53: a new low-mass, pre-main sequence eclipsing binary in the Upper Centaurus-Lupus region discovered by SuperWASP
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gillon M
(2011)
WASP-50 b: a hot Jupiter transiting a moderately active solar-type star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gibson N
(2010)
A transit timing analysis of seven RISE light curves of the exoplanet system HAT-P-3
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Gibson N
(2010)
Ground-based detection of thermal emission from the exoplanet WASP-19b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Fossati L
(2010)
METALS IN THE EXOSPHERE OF THE HIGHLY IRRADIATED PLANET WASP-12b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Fleming S
(2011)
ECLIPSING BINARY SCIENCE VIA THE MERGING OF TRANSIT AND DOPPLER EXOPLANET SURVEY DATA-A CASE STUDY WITH THE MARVELS PILOT PROJECT AND SuperWASP
in The Astronomical Journal
Faedi F
(2013)
WASP-54b, WASP-56b, and WASP-57b: Three new sub-Jupiter mass planets from SuperWASP
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Faedi F
(2011)
New transiting exoplanets from the SuperWASP-North survey
in Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Faedi F
(2011)
New exoplanets from the SuperWASP-North survey
in EPJ Web of Conferences
Faedi F
(2011)
WASP-39b: a highly inflated Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late G-type star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Enoch B
(2010)
WASP-25b: a 0.6 MJ planet in the Southern hemisphere WASP-25b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Enoch B
(2011)
WASP-35b, WASP-48b, AND HAT-P-30b/WASP-51b: TWO NEW PLANETS AND AN INDEPENDENT DISCOVERY OF A HAT PLANET
in The Astronomical Journal
Doyle A
(2013)
Accurate spectroscopic parameters of WASP planet host stars?
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society