SuperWASP

Wide Angle Search for Planets
SuperWASP-South cameras on OMI equatorial mount
Abbreviation	WASP
Purpose	Search for distant planets
Region served	La Palma and Sutherland
Membership	Eight universities
Website	wasp-planets.net www.superwasp.org

WASP or Wide Angle Search for Planets is an international consortium of several academic organisation performing an ultra-wide angle search for exoplanets using transit photometry. The array of robotic telescopes aims to survey the entire sky, simultaneously monitoring many thousands of stars at an apparent visual magnitude from about 7 to 13.^[1]

SuperWASP is the detection program composed of the Isaac Newton Group, IAC and six universities from the United Kingdom. The two continuously operating, robotic observatories cover the Northern and Southern Hemisphere, respectively. SuperWASP-North is located at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canary Island, Spain, while SuperWASP-South is located at the site of the South African Astronomical Observatory, near Sutherland, South Africa. Both observatories use eight wide-angle cameras that simultaneously monitor the sky for planetary transit events and allow the monitoring of millions of stars simultaneously, enabling the detection of rare transit events.^[2]

Instruments used for follow-up characterization employing doppler spectroscopy to determine the exoplanet's mass include the HARPS spectrograph of ESO's 3.6-metre telescope as well as the Swiss Euler Telescope, both located at La Silla Observatory, Chile.^[3] WASP's design has also been adopted by the Next-Generation Transit Survey.^[4] As of 2016, the Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia data base contains a total of 2,107 extrasolar planets of which 118 were discoveries by WASP.^[5]

Equipment

WASP consists of two robotic observatories; SuperWASP-North at Roque de los Muchachos Observatory on the island of La Palma in the Canaries and WASP-South at the South African Astronomical Observatory, South Africa. Each observatory consists of an array of eight Canon 200 mm f1.8 lenses backed by high quality 2048 x 2048 science grade CCDs, the model used is the iKon-L^[6] manufactured by Andor Technology.^[7] The telescopes are mounted on an equatorial telescope mount built by Optical Mechanics, Inc.^[8] The large field of view of the Canon lenses gives each observatory a massive sky coverage of 490 square degrees per pointing.^[9]

Function

The observatories continuously monitor the sky, taking a set of images approximately once per minute, gathering up to 100 gigabytes of data per night. By using the transit method, data collected from WASP can be used to measure the brightness of each star in each image, and small dips in brightness caused by large planets passing in front of their parent stars can be searched for.

One of the main purpose of WASP was to revolutionize the understanding of planet formation, paving the way for future space missions searching for 'Earth'-like worlds.

Structure

WASP is operated by a consortium of academic institutions which include:

On 26 September 2006, the team reported the discovery of two extrasolar planets: WASP-1b (orbiting 6 million km from star once every 2.5 days) and WASP-2b (orbiting 4.5 million km from star once every 2 days).^[10]

On 31 October 2007, the team reported the discovery of three extrasolar planets: WASP-3b, WASP-4b and WASP-5b. All three planets are similar to Jovian mass and are so close to their respective stars that their orbital periods are all less than two days. These are among the shortest orbital periods discovered. The surface temperatures of the planets should be more than 2000 degrees Celsius, owing to their short distances from their respective stars. The WASP-4b and WASP-5b planets are the first planets discovered by the WASP project's cameras in South Africa, while WASP-3b is the third planet discovered by the WASP project's cameras in La Palma.

In August 2009, the discovery of WASP-17b was announced, believed to be the first planet ever discovered to orbit in the opposite direction to the spin of its star, WASP-17.

Discoveries and follow-up observations

Star	Constellation	Right ascension	Declination	App. mag.	Distance (ly)	Spectral type	Planet	Mass (M_J)	Radius (R_J)	Orbital period (d)	Semimajor axis (AU)	Orbital eccentricity	Inclination (°)	Discovery year
WASP-1	Andromeda	00^h 20^m 40^s	+31° 59′ 24″	11.79	1031	F7V	b	0.86	1.484	2.5199464	0.0382	0	88.65	2006
WASP-2	Delphinus	20^h 30^m 54^s	+06° 25′ 46″	11.98	493	K1V	b	0.847	1.079	2.15222144	0.03138	0	84.73	2006
WASP-3	Lyra	18^h 33^m 32^s	+35° 39′ 42″	10.64	727	F7V	b	2.06	1.454	1.8468372	0.0313	0	85.06	2007
WASP-4	Phoenix	23^h 34^m 15^s	−42° 03′ 41″	12.6	851	G7V	b	1.1215	1.363	1.33823187	0.02312	0	88.8	2007
WASP-5	Phoenix	23^h 57^m 24^s	−41° 16′ 38″	12.26	967	G4V	b	1.58	1.09	1.6284296	0.02683	0	85.8	2007
WASP-6	Aquarius	23^h 12^m 37^s	−22° 40′ 06″	12.4	1001	G8V	b	0.5	1.3	3.36	0.0269	0.054	88.47	2008
WASP-7	Microscopium	20^h 44^m 10^s	−39° 13′ 31″	9.51	460	F5V	b	0.96	0.915	4.954658	0.0618	0	89.6	2008
WASP-8	Sculptor	23^h 59^m 36.07^s	−35° 01′ 52.9″	9.9	160	G6	b	2.23	1.17	8.16	0.0793	0.3082	88.52	2008
WASP-8	Sculptor	23^h 59^m 36.07^s	−35° 01′ 52.9″	9.9	160	G6	c	9.45		4323	5.28			2014
WASP-10	Pegasus	23^h 15^m 58^s	+31° 27′ 46″	12.7	290	K5	b	3.06	1.08	3.0927616	0.0371	0.057	86.8	2008
WASP-11/HAT-P-10	Perseus	03^h 09^m 29^s	+30° 40′ 25″	11.89	408	K3V	b	0.460	1.045	3.7224690	0.0439	0	88.5	2008
WASP-12	Auriga	06^h 30^m 32.794^s	+29° 40′ 20.29″	11.7	871	G0V	b	1.404	1.736	1.0914222	0.02293	0	86	2008
WASP-13	Lynx	09^h 20^m 24.71^s	+33° 52′ 57.0″	10.7	509	G1V	b	0.485	1.365	4.353011	0.05379	0	85.64	2008
WASP-14	Boötes	14^h 33^m 06^s	+21° 53′ 41″	9.75	520	F5V	b	7.725	1.259	2.2437704	0.037	0.0903	84.79	2008
WASP-15	Hydra	13^h 55^m 42.71^s	−32° 09′ 34.6″	10.9	1005	F5	b	0.54	1.16	3.75	0.0472	0	85.5	2008
WASP-16	Virgo	14^h 18^m 43.92^s	−20° 16′ 31.8″	11.3	520	G3V	b	0.855	1.008	3.12	0.0421	0	85.22	2009
WASP-17	Scorpius	15^h 59^m 51^s	−28° 03′ 42″	11.6	1000	F6	b	0.486	1.991	3.735438	0.0515	0.028	86.83	2009
WASP-18	Phoenix	01^h 37^m 24.95^s	−45° 40′ 40.8″	9.29	330	F9	b	10.3	1.106	0.94145299	0.02026	0.0092	86	2009
WASP-19	Vela	09^h 43^m 40.077^s	−45° 39′ 33.06″	12.3	815	G8V	b	1.168	1.386	0.78884	0.01655	0.0046	79.4	2009
WASP-20		00^h 20^m 38.53^s	−23° 56′ 08.6″	10.7	685	F9	b	0.31	1.459	4.9	0.06003		85.57	2011
WASP-21	Pegasus	23^h 09^m 58.23^s	+18° 23′ 46.0″	11.6	750	G3V	b	0.3	1.21	4.322506	0.052	0	87.29	2010
WASP-22	Eridanus	03^h 31^m 16.32^s	−23° 49′ 11.0″	12.0	980	G1	b	0.588	1.158	3.5327313	0.04698	0	88.26	2010
WASP-23	Puppis	06^h 44^m 31^s	−42° 45′ 43″	12.7		K1V	b	0.884	0.962	2.9444256	0.0376	< 0.062	88.39	2010
WASP-24	Virgo	15^h 08^m 51.72^s	+02° 20′ 36.1″	11.3	1080	F8-9	b	1.03	1.10	2.341	0.0359	0	85.71	2010
WASP-25	Hydra	13^h 01^m 26.36^s	−27° 31′ 20.0″	11.9	550	G4	b	0.58	1.26	3.765	0.0487	0	87.7	2010
WASP-26	Cetus	00^h 18^m 24.70^s	−15° 16′ 02.3″	11.3	815	G0	b	1.028	1.281	2.7566004	0.03985	0	82.91	2010
WASP-28	Pisces	23^h 34^m 27.87^s	−01° 34′ 48.1″	12	1090	F8	b	1.12	0.91	3.409	0.0455	0.046	88.61	2010
WASP-29	Phoenix	23^h 51^m 31.08^s	−39° 54′ 24.2″	11.3	260	K4V	b	0.25	0.74	3.923	0.0456	0	87.96	2010
WASP-31	Crater	11^h 17^m 45^s	−19° 03′ 17″	11.7	1305	F	b	0.478	1.537	3.405909	0.04657	0	84.54	2010
WASP-32	Pisces	00^h 15^m 51^s	+01° 12′ 02″	11.3		G	b	3.6	1.18	2.71865	0.0394	0.018	85.3	2010
WASP-33	Andromeda	02^h 26^m 51.05^s	+37° 33′ 01.7″	8.3	378	A5	b	< 4.59	1.438	1.21986967	0.02558	0	87.67	2010
WASP-34	Crater	11^h 01^m 36^s	−23° 51′ 38″	10.4	391	G5	b	0.59	1.22	4.3176782	0.0524	0.038	85.2	2010
WASP-35						G0	b	0.72	1.32	3.161575	0.04317		87.96	2011
WASP-36	Hydra	08^h 45^m 19.0^s	−08° 01′ 37″	12.7	1468	G2	b	2.279	1.269	1.53737	0.02624		83.65	2010
WASP-37	Virgo	14^h 47^m 46.62^s	+01° 03′ 53.4″	12.7	1102	G2	b	1.696	1.136	3.577471	0.04339	0	88.78	2010
WASP-38	Hercules	16^h 15^m 50^s	+10° 01′ 57″	9.42	359	F8	b	2.712	1.079	6.871815	0.07551	0.0321	88.69	2010
WASP-39	Virgo	14^h 29^m 18^s	−03° 26′ 40″	12.11	750	G8	b	0.28	1.27	4.055259	0.0486	0	87.83	2011
WASP-40/HAT-P-27	Virgo	14^h 51^m 04.25^s	+05° 56′ 50.4″	12.21	665	G8	b	0.66	1.055	3.0395721	0.0403	0.078	84.98	2011
WASP-41	Centaurus	12^h 42^m 28.51^s	−30° 38′ 23.5″	11.6	587	G8V	b	0.92	1.21	3.052394	0.04	0	87.3	2010
WASP-42		12^h 51^m 55.62^s	−42° 04′ 25.2″	12.57		K1	b	0.5	1.08	4.98169	0.0458	0.06	88.25	2011
WASP-43	Sextans	10^h 19^m 38^s	−09° 48′ 23″	12.4		K7V	b	1.78	0.93	0.813475	0.0142	0	82.6	2011
WASP-44	Cetus	00^h 15^m 37^s	−11° 56′ 17″	12.9		G8V	b	0.889	1.14	2.4238039	0.03473	0	86.02	2011
WASP-45	Sculptor	00^h 20^m 57^s	−35° 59′ 54″	12		K2V	b	1.007	1.16	3.1260876	0.04054	0	84.47	2011
WASP-46	Indus	21^h 14^m 57^s	−55° 52′ 18″	12.9		G6V	b	2.101	1.31	1.43037	0.02448	0	82.63	2011
WASP-47	Aquarius	20^h 40^m 09.16^s	−00° 52′ 15.0″	11.9	652	G9V	b	1.14	1.15	4.15914			89.2	2011
WASP-48	Cygnus	19^h 24^m 39^s	+55° 28′ 23″	11.06		F/G	b	0.98	1.67	2.143634	0.03444	0	80.09	2011
WASP-49		06^h 04^m 21.47^s	−16° 57′ 55.1″	11.36		G6	b	0.378	1.115	2.78174			84.89	2011
WASP-50	Eridanus	02^h 54^m 45^s	−10° 53′ 53″	11.6	750	G9	b	1.468	1.153	1.9550959	0.02945	0.009	84.74	2011
WASP-51/HAT-P-30	Draco	08^h 15^m 48^s	+05° 50′ 12″	10.36	629	F9	b	0.711	1.34	2.810595	0.0419	0.035	83.6	2011
WASP-52	Pegasus	23^h 13^m 59.0^s	+08° 45′ 41″	12	457	K2V	b	0.46	1.27	1.74978			85.35	2011
WASP-53							b	2.5	1.2	3.3				2011
WASP-54		03^h 41^m 49.02 ^s	−00° 07′ 41″	10.42		F9V/IV	b	0.6	1.4	3.7				2011
WASP-55	Virgo	08^h 15^m 48^s	+05° 50′ 12″	11.8	1076		b	0.57	1.3	4.46563	0.0533		89.2	2011
WASP-56		02^h 13^m 27.90^s	+23° 30′ 20.2″	11.48		G6	b	0.6	1.2	4.6				2011
WASP-57		14^h 55^m 16.84^s	−02° 03′ 27.5″	13.34		G6	b	0.8	1.1	2.8				2011
WASP-58	Lyra	18^h 18^m 48.0^s	+45° 10′ 19″	11.66	978	G2V	b	0.89	1.37	5.01718	0.0561		87.4	2011
WASP-59	Pegasus	23^h 18^m 30.0^s	+24° 53′ 21″	13	408	K5V	b	0.7	0.9	7.9				2011
WASP-60	Pegasus	23^h 15^m 58^s	+31° 27′ 46″	12.18	1305	G1V	b	0.5	0.86	4.305	0.0531	0	87.9	2011
WASP-61	Lepus	05^h 01^m 12.0^s	−26° 03′ 15″	12.5	1566	F7	b	2.06	1.24	3.8559	0.0514		89.35	2011
WASP-62	Dorado	05^h 48^m 34.0^s	−63° 59′ 18″	10.3	1566	F7	b	0.57	1.39	4.41195	0.0567		88.3	2011
WASP-63	Columba	06^h 17^m 21.0^s	−38° 19′ 24″	11.2	1076	G8	b	0.38	1.43	4.37809	0.574		87.8	2011
WASP-64							b	1.2	0.7	1.6				2011
WASP-65	Cancer	08^h 53^m 18^s	+08° 31′ 23″	11.9	1010	G6	b	1.6	1.3	2.3				2011
WASP-66	Antlia	10^h 32^m 54.0^s	−34° 59′ 23″	11.6	1239	F4	b	2.32	1.39	4.08605	0.0546		85.9	2011
WASP-67	Sagittarius	19^h 42^m 59.0^s	−19° 56′ 58″	12.5	734	K0V	b	0.42	1.4	4.61442	0.0517		85.8	2011
WASP-68		20^h 20^m 22.98^s	−19° 18′ 52.9″	10.7		G0	b	0.95	1.24	5.08				2011
WASP-69						K	b	0.3	1	3.9				2011
WASP-70A						G4	b	0.6	0.8	3.7				2011
WASP-71	Cetus	01^h 57^m 03.0^s	00° 45′ 32″	10.57	652	F8	b	2.258	1.5	2.90367			84.2	2012
WASP-72	Fornax	00^h 10^m 56.6^s	−30° 10′ 09″	9.6		F7	b	1.5461	1.27	2.21674	0.03708			2013
WASP-73	Indus	21^h 19^m 47.91^s	−58° 08′ 56″	10.5		F9	b	1.88	1.16	4.087	0.05514			2013
WASP-75	Cetus	01^h 31^m 18.2^s	−10:40:32°	11.45	848	F9	b	1.07	1.27	2.48419	0.0375		82	2013
WASP-76	Pisces	01^h 46^m 32.0^s	02° 42′ 02″	9.5	390	F7	b	0.92	1.83	1.80989	0.033		88	2013
WASP-77A	Cetus	02^h 28^m 37.0^s	−07° 03′ 38″	11.29		G8V	b	1.76	1.21	1.36003			89.4	2012
WASP-78	Eridanus	04^h 15^m 02.0^s	−22° 06′ 59″	12.0	1794	F8	b	1.16	1.75	2.17518	0.0415		89	2012
WASP-79	Eridanus	04^h 25^m 29.0^s	−30° 36′ 02″	10.1	783	F3	b	0.89	1.7	2.17518	0.0362		83.2	2012
WASP-80	Aquila	20^h 12^m 40.0^s	−02° 08′ 44″	11.88	196	K7V	b	0.554	0.952	3.06785	0.0346	0.07	89.92	2013
WASP-82	Orion	04^h 50^m 39^s	+01° 53′ 38″	10.1	650	F5	b	1.24	1.67	2.70578	0.0447		87.9	2013
WASP-84	Hydra	08^h 44^m 26^s	+01° 50′ 36″		390	K0	b	0.694	0.942	8.52349	0.0771		88.368	2013
WASP-85A		11^h 43^m 38.1^s	+06° 33′ 49.4″	11.2	407±260	G5	b	1.09	1.44	2.66	0.1138	~0	89.72	2014
WASP-87 A	Centaurus	12^h 21^m 17.92^s	−52° 50′ 276″	10.7	780	F5	b	2.18	1.385	1.6827950	0.02946		81.07	2014
WASP-88	Indus	20^h 38^m 02.7^s	−48° 27′ 43.2″	11.4		F6	b	0.56	1.7	4.954	0.06432			2013
WASP-90	Equuleus	21^h 02^m 08^s	+07° 03′ 24″	11.7	1100	F6	b	0.63	1.63	3.91624	0.0562		82.1	2013
WASP-94A		20^h 55^m 07.94^s	−34° 08′ 07.9″	10.1	587	F8	b	0.445	1.72	3.95	0.055	<0.13	88.7	2014
WASP-94B		20^h 55^m 09.16^s	−34° 08′ 07.9″	10.5	587	F9	b	≥0.617		2.008	0.0335			2014
WASP-95	Grus	21^h 02^m 08^s	−48° 00′ 11″	10.1		G2	b	1.13	1.21	2.18467	0.03416		88.4	2013
WASP-96	Phoenix	00^h 04^m 11^s	−47° 21′ 38″	12.2		G8	b	0.48	1.2	3.42526	0.0453		85.6	2013
WASP-97	Eridanus	01^h 38^m 25^s	−55° 46′ 19″	10.6		G5	b	1.32	1.13	2.07276	0.03303		88	2013
WASP-98	Eridanus	03^h 53^m 42^s	−34° 19′ 42″	13.0		G7	b	0.83	1.1	2.96264	0.036		86.3	2013
WASP-99	Eridanus	02^h 39^m 35^s	−50° 00′ 29″	9.5		F8	b	2.78	1.1	5.75251	0.0717		88.8	2013
WASP-100	Reticulum	04^h 35^m 50^s	−64° 01′ 37″	10.8		F2	b	2.03	1.69	2.84938	0.0457		82.6	2013
WASP-101	Canis Major	06^h 33^m 24^s	−23° 29′ 10″	10.3		F6	b	0.5	1.41	3.58572	0.0506		85	2013
WASP-103	Hercules	16^h 37^m 15.5^s	+07° 11′ 00.07″	12.1		F8	b	1.49	1.53	0.925	0.01985		86.3	2014
WASP-104		10^h 42^m 24.61^s	+07° 26′ 6.3″	11.12	466	G8	b	1.272	1.137	1.7554137	0.02918		83.63	2014
WASP-106		11^h 05^m 43.13^s	−05° 04′ 45.9″	11.21	923	F9	b	1.925	1.085	9.289715	0.0917		89.49	2014
WASP-108		13^h 03^m 19^s	−49° 38′ 23″	11.2	717	F9	b	1.167	1.215	2.6755463	0.0397		88.49	2014
WASP-109		15^h 28^m 13.0^s	−16° 24′ 39″	11.4	1076	F4	b	0.91	1.443	3.3190233	0.0463		84.28	2014
WASP-110		20^h 23^m 30^s	−44° 03′ 30″	12.3	1043	G9	b	0.515	1.238	3.7783977	0.0457		88.06	2014
WASP-111		21^h 55^m 04^s	−22° 36′ 45″	10.3	684	F5	b	1.83	1.442	2.310965	0.03914		81.61	2014
WASP-112		22^h 37^m 57^s	−35° 09′ 14″	13.3	1337	G6	b	0.88	1.191	3.0353992	0.0382		88.68	2014
WASP-117		02^h 27^m 06.09^s	−50° 17′ 04.3″	10.15		F9V	b	0.2755	1.021	10.02165	0.09459	0.302	89.14	2014 ^[11]

Notes

Note a: The celestial coordinates and the standard catalog identification for the parent star have not been released for WASP-9b as of 2010-04-02.

References

↑ R. A. Street, D. L. Pollacco, A. Fitzsimmons, F. P. Keenan, Keith Horne, S. Kane, A. Collier Cameron, T. A. Lister, C. Haswell, A. J. Norton, B. W. Jones, I. Skillen, S. Hodgkin, P. Wheatley, R. West, D. Brett (2002). "SuperWASP: Wide Angle Search for Planets" (PDF).
↑ "SuperWASP Survey Information". NASA Exoplanet Science Institute. 5 February 2015.
↑ http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010A%26A...517L...1Q
↑ "Searching for Super-Earths" (PDF). Queen's University. 2014. Retrieved September 2015.
↑ "Catalog". Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. Retrieved April 2016.
↑ http://wasp-planets.net/technical/
↑ http://www.andor.com
↑ http://www.opticalmechanics.com/news/index.html
↑ Current status of the SuperWASP project, D. J. Christian et al.
↑ WASP-1b and WASP-2b: Two new transiting exoplanets detected with SuperWASP and SOPHIE
↑ http://arxiv.org/abs/1406.6942

External links

News items

QUB in April 2008
Reaching for the stars in October 2007
BBC News report: Planets have scientists buzzing in September 2006

Video clips

Keele University
McCormac, James. "Planet Hunting". Deep Space Videos. Brady Haran.

Exoplanet search projects

Ground-based

Space missions

Past and current	MOST (2003–present) SWEEPS (2006) COROT (2006–2013) EPOXI (2008–2013) Kepler (2009–present) KOI exoplanets Gaia (2013–present)

Planned	CHEOPS (2017) TESS (2017) James Webb Space Telescope (2018) PLATO (2024) WFIRST (mid-2020s)

Proposed	ATLAST EXCEDE FINESSE New Worlds Mission PEGASE

Cancelled	Darwin EChO Eddington Space Interferometry Mission Terrestrial Planet Finder

Coordinates: 28°45′37″N 17°52′45″W / 28.76023°N 17.87930°W / 28.76023; -17.87930

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