Project support for the Wide Angle Search for Planets
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Leicester
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.
Organisations
People |
ORCID iD |
| Richard West (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Anderson D
(2011)
WASP-31b: a low-density planet transiting a metal-poor, late-F-type dwarf star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Anderson D
(2010)
WASP-17b: AN ULTRA-LOW DENSITY PLANET IN A PROBABLE RETROGRADE ORBIT
in The Astrophysical Journal
Anderson D
(2011)
WASP-40b: Independent Discovery of the 0.6 M Jup Transiting Exoplanet HAT-P-27b
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
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
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
Butters O
(2009)
RXTE confirmation of the intermediate polar status of IGR J15094-6649
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Butters O
(2010)
RXTE and XMM observations of intermediate polar candidates
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Butters O
(2010)
The first WASP public data release
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Butters O
(2009)
Circular polarization survey of intermediate polars I. Northern targets in the range 17 h < RA < 23 h
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Byckling K
(2009)
Swift observations of GW Lib: a unique insight into a rare outburst
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
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
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
Collier Cameron A
(2009)
The main-sequence rotation???colour relation in the Coma Berenices open cluster
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
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
Enoch B
(2010)
WASP-25b: a 0.6 MJ planet in the Southern hemisphere WASP-25b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Faedi F
(2009)
Transit detection limits for sub-stellar and terrestrial companions to white dwarfs
in Journal of Physics: Conference Series
Faedi F
(2011)
Detection limits for close eclipsing and transiting substellar and planetary companions to white dwarfs in the WASP survey Sub-stellar and planetary companions to WDs
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Faedi F
(2011)
WASP-39b: a highly inflated Saturn-mass planet orbiting a late G-type star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
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
Fossati L
(2010)
METALS IN THE EXOSPHERE OF THE HIGHLY IRRADIATED PLANET WASP-12b
in The Astrophysical Journal
Gibson N
(2010)
Ground-based detection of thermal emission from the exoplanet WASP-19b
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Gillon M
(2009)
Discovery and characterization of WASP-6b, an inflated sub-Jupiter mass planet transiting a solar-type star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Gillon M
(2011)
WASP-50 b: a hot Jupiter transiting a moderately active solar-type star
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Hebb L
(2009)
WASP-12b: THE HOTTEST TRANSITING EXTRASOLAR PLANET YET DISCOVERED
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hebb L
(2010)
WASP-19b: THE SHORTEST PERIOD TRANSITING EXOPLANET YET DISCOVERED
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hellier C
(2009)
WASP-7: A BRIGHT TRANSITING-EXOPLANET SYSTEM IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hellier C
(2009)
An orbital period of 0.94 days for the hot-Jupiter planet WASP-18b.
in Nature
Hellier C
(2010)
WASP-29b: A SATURN-SIZED TRANSITING EXOPLANET
in The Astrophysical Journal
Hellier C
(2011)
WASP-43b: the closest-orbiting hot Jupiter
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Joshi Y
(2009)
WASP-14b: 7.3 M J transiting planet in an eccentric orbit
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lister T
(2009)
WASP-16b: A NEW JUPITER-LIKE PLANET TRANSITING A SOUTHERN SOLAR ANALOG
in The Astrophysical Journal
Madhusudhan N
(2011)
A high C/O ratio and weak thermal inversion in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-12b.
in Nature
Maxted P
(2010)
WASP-22 b: A TRANSITING "HOT JUPITER" PLANET IN A HIERARCHICAL TRIPLE SYSTEM
in The Astronomical Journal
Maxted P
(2011)
WASP-41b: A Transiting Hot Jupiter Planet Orbiting a Magnetically Active G8V Star
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Maxted P
(2010)
WASP-32b: A Transiting Hot Jupiter Planet Orbiting a Lithium-Poor, Solar-Type Star
in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific
Maxted P
(2011)
Discovery of a stripped red giant core in a bright eclipsing binary system? J0247-25
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
McQuillin R
(2012)
Novae in the SuperWASP data base Novae in the SuperWASP data base
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Potter S
(2010)
Polarized QPOs from the INTEGRAL polar IGRJ14536-5522 (=Swift J1453.4-5524)
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Queloz D
(2010)
WASP-8b : a retrograde transiting planet in a multiple system
in Astronomy and Astrophysics
Simpson E
(2011)
INDEPENDENT DISCOVERY OF THE TRANSITING EXOPLANET HAT-P-14b
in The Astronomical Journal
Skillen I
(2009)
The 0.5 M J transiting exoplanet WASP-13b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Smalley B
(2011)
SuperWASP observations of pulsating Am stars
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Smith A
(2009)
A SuperWASP search for additional transiting planets in 24 known systems
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Southworth J
(2011)
Absolute dimensions of detached eclipsing binaries - II. The metallic-lined system XY Ceti The eclipsing binary system XY Ceti
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
Triaud A
(2011)
WASP-23b: a transiting hot Jupiter around a K dwarf and its Rossiter-McLaughlin effect
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
West R
(2009)
The sub-Jupiter mass transiting exoplanet WASP-11b
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
West R
(2009)
THE LOW DENSITY TRANSITING EXOPLANET WASP-15b
in The Astronomical Journal