SuperWASP begins search for new planets

A consortium of top astronomers were celebrating the inauguration of the SuperWASP facility at the astronomical observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Islands.

The astronomy facility has been designed to detect some of the thousands of planets outside of our own solar system.

Late last year the first test data was obtained which showed the instrument's performance to exceed initial expectations. Now the Entering its operational phase, construction of the SuperWASP facility began in May 2003.

The Principal Investigator for the Project, Dr Don Pollacco of Queens University Belfast, said: "While the construction and initial commissioning phases of the facility have been only nine months long, SuperWASP represents the culmination of many years work from astronomers within the WASP consortium.

"Data from SuperWASP will lead to exciting progress in many areas of astronomy, ranging from the discovery of planets around nearby stars to the early detection of other classes of variable objects such as supernovae in distant galaxies".

Only about a hundred extra-solar planets are currently known, and many questions about their formation and evolution remain unanswered due to the lack of observational data.

This situation is expected to improve dramatically as the SuperWASP instrument, which cost £400,000, produces scientific results.

The most ambitious project of its kind anywhere in the world, SuperWASP has an extremely wide field of view combined with its ability to measure brightness very precisely and can therefore accurately monitor the brightness of hundreds of thousands of stars.

If any Jupiter-sized planets transit between the parent star and the earth then SuperWASP can detect the small proportion of light blocked out.

Dr René Rutten (Director of the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes) said "SuperWASP is a very nice example of how clever ideas to exploit the latest technology can open new windows to explore the universe around us, and shows that important scientific programmes can be done at very modest cost."

The facility is operated by a consortium involving astronomers from: Queen's University Belfast, University of Cambridge, Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (La Palma), University of Keele, University of Leicester, Open University and University of St Andrews.

(SP)