Cavaz
02-04-2008, 12:32 PM
Astronomers from the UK using a 'revolutionary' new camera have discovered 10 new planets.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1665797.jpg 10 new planets have been found
They are in orbit around other stars, commonly known as extrasolar planets, and were detected by high-tech 'WASP' cameras located in the Canary Islands and South Africa.
The discovery has been hailed a "triumph" for European astronomy.
The news was formally announced by the Royal Astronomical Society at their National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast.
The stunning findings are the latest to come from the successful Wide Area Search for Planets project (SuperWASP), which was launched in 2004.
Scientists at Queen's University in Belfast developed the WASP camera, which has revolutionised astronomy and increased the frequency with which planets are discovered.
The SuperWASP system uses two sets of cameras to survey a large portion of the sky.
The cameras look for and record transits - where a planet passes directly in front of a star, blocking its light and making it appear fainter.
Astronomers then check the cameras for transits and can deduce the size and mass of each new planet.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1665799.jpg One of the team's WASP cameras
Prior to the WASPs, scientists had to study each star for several months, which inevitably led to fewer discoveries.
Most of the latest discoveries were made by a team led by Dr Don Pollacco of the Astrophysics Research Centre in the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's.
Dr Pollacco said: "SuperWASP is now a planet-finding production line and will revolutionise the detection of large planets and our understanding of how they were formed.
"It's a great triumph for European astronomers."
A total of 45 planets have now been discovered using the transit system - and SuperWASP cameras have found 15 of them.
One of the newly-discovered planets is so close to its star that its surface temperature is believed to reach an astonishing 2,300 degrees celsius.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91221-1311357,00.html
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1665797.jpg 10 new planets have been found
They are in orbit around other stars, commonly known as extrasolar planets, and were detected by high-tech 'WASP' cameras located in the Canary Islands and South Africa.
The discovery has been hailed a "triumph" for European astronomy.
The news was formally announced by the Royal Astronomical Society at their National Astronomy Meeting in Belfast.
The stunning findings are the latest to come from the successful Wide Area Search for Planets project (SuperWASP), which was launched in 2004.
Scientists at Queen's University in Belfast developed the WASP camera, which has revolutionised astronomy and increased the frequency with which planets are discovered.
The SuperWASP system uses two sets of cameras to survey a large portion of the sky.
The cameras look for and record transits - where a planet passes directly in front of a star, blocking its light and making it appear fainter.
Astronomers then check the cameras for transits and can deduce the size and mass of each new planet.
http://static.sky.com/images/pictures/1665799.jpg One of the team's WASP cameras
Prior to the WASPs, scientists had to study each star for several months, which inevitably led to fewer discoveries.
Most of the latest discoveries were made by a team led by Dr Don Pollacco of the Astrophysics Research Centre in the School of Mathematics and Physics at Queen's.
Dr Pollacco said: "SuperWASP is now a planet-finding production line and will revolutionise the detection of large planets and our understanding of how they were formed.
"It's a great triumph for European astronomers."
A total of 45 planets have now been discovered using the transit system - and SuperWASP cameras have found 15 of them.
One of the newly-discovered planets is so close to its star that its surface temperature is believed to reach an astonishing 2,300 degrees celsius.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91221-1311357,00.html