This Echo is READ ONLY !   NO Un-Authorized Messages Please!
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
Swindon, U.K.

28 May 2003

WASP prepares to search for a thousand new planets

Part 1 of 2

Construction has now started in La Palma on the first of three new
cameras designed to look for planets outside our own solar system. To
date about a hundred of these planets have been found by teams of
scientists from around the world using various techniques, but the
ambitious new WASP project hopes to find over a thousand new planets
similar to Jupiter! 

WASP, the wide-angle search for planets, will be formed of a network
of at least three cameras, which will accurately measure the
brightness of a million stars every minute. Astronomers will look for
variations in the brightness of stars, which can indicate a planet
passing in front of the star. The easiest sorts of planets to see are
large Jupiter-sized objects, close to the star they orbit, known as
'hot Jupiters'. They also hope to detect variations due to asteroids
passing near stars and giant explosions known as novae or supernovae.

Unusually, much of the equipment being used in WASP is similar to
that used by amateur astronomers, but of research quality and used in
a novel way. It is also innovative in its operation, as the system
requires little supervision, Don Pollacco of Queens University
Belfast explains: "Each camera in WASP is designed to run under
robotic control with minimal human interaction." 

Pete Wheatley, University of Leicester adds: "The first camera will
generate 30 Gigabytes of data per night (equivalent to roughly 40
CDs!) and the entire network, once completed, should produce 16,000
Gigabytes a year, giving us a colossal processing task."

Planning permission for the work on La Palma was given earlier this
month and clearing of the site started last week. Installation should
start early June 2003 and WASP should see first light in the summer
of 2003. La Palma is a premier site for astronomy, in the Canary
Islands. 

The WASP consortium consists of astronomers from: Queens University
Belfast, the Universities of Cambridge, Keele, Leicester, St Andrews,
the Open University, the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes (La Palma)
and the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (Tenerife).

WASP is funded by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council
and Queens University Belfast.

Images of the construction site are available from
      http://www.superwasp.org/projectphotos.html

Further information is available on the project website
      http://www.superwasp.org

Contact details:

PPARC Press Office:
Julia Maddock
Press Officer
E-mail:  julia.maddock{at}pparc.ac.uk

Dr Peter J. Wheatley
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
University of Leicester
University Road
Leicester LE1 7RH
Tel. +44 (0) 116 252 2377
Fax. +44 (0) 116 252 2070
E-mail: pjw{at}astro.le.ac.uk

Dr Don Pollacco
APS Division, Dept. of Pure & Applied Physics
Queen's University of Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
Tel: (0)2890-273512
Fax: (0)2890-273110
E-mail: d.pollacco{at}qub.ac.uk

Dr Alan Fitzsimmons
APS Division
Dept. of Pure & Applied Physics
Queen's University of Belfast
Belfast BT7 1NN
Tel: (0)2890-273142
Email: a.fitzsimmons{at}qub.ac.uk

Dr Simon Hodgkin
Institute of Astronomy
University of Cambridge
Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HAs
Email: sth{at}ast.cam.ac.uks
Tel (switchboard): (+44) 1223 337548

Dr Carole Haswell
The Open University
Telephone: +44 (0) 1908 653396
Fax: 01908 654192
Email: c.a.haswell{at}open.ac.uk

Professor Keith Horne
School of Physics and Astronomy
University of St. Andrews,
St. Andrews, Fife, KY16 9SS, Scotland
Fax: +44 (0)1334 463104
Tel: +44 (0)1334 463322
Email: kdh1{at}st-and.ac.uks

Dr Coel Hellier
Department of Physics
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG UK
Email: ch{at}astro.keele.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1782 584243
FAX +44 (0)1782 712378

 - Continued -

@Message posted automagically by IMTHINGS POST 1.30
---