Showing papers by "Alan Fitzsimmons published in 2004"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the effects of a hypothetical planet on the primordial orbital distribution of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt and found that none of the models for the hypothetical planet that were investigated can reproduce the observed features starting from any probable primordial distribution.
22 citations
TL;DR: SuperWASP as mentioned in this paper is an ultra-wide field (over 300 sq. degrees) photometric survey project designed to monitor stars between 7 - 15 mag to high precision and with high cadence over long (≥2 months) timescales.
Abstract: SuperWASP is an ultra-wide field (over 300 sq. degrees) photometric survey project designed to monitor stars between 7 – 15 mag to high precision and with high cadence over long (≥2 months) timescales. The primary science goal of this project is the detection of exoplanetary transits, as well as NEOs and optical transients. The resulting photometric catalogue will be made public via a web-based interface. The SuperWASP instrument consists of an array of cameras each with a 7.8° × 7.8° field of view, guided by a robotic fork mount and sited in a fibreglass enclosure at the Observatorio de Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), La Palma, Canary Islands. In this progress report, we describe the specifications of the instrument, its semi-automated operation and pipeline data reduction. (© 2004 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)
7 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: The SuperWASP project as discussed by the authors consists of up to 8 individual cameras using ultra-wide field lenses backed by high-quality passively cooled CCDs, each camera covers 7.8×7.8 square degrees of sky.
Abstract: We present the current status of the SuperWASP project, a Wide Angle Search for Planets. SuperWASP consists of up to 8 individual cameras using ultra-wide field lenses backed by high-quality passively cooled CCDs. Each camera covers 7.8 x 7.8 sq degrees of sky, for nearly 500 sq degrees of sky coverage. SuperWASP I, located in LaPalma, is currently operational with 5 cameras and is conducting a photometric survey of a large numbers of stars in the magnitude range ~7 to 15. The collaboration has developed a custom-built reduction pipeline and aims to achieve better than 1 percent photometric precision. The pipeline will also produce well sampled light curves for all the stars in each field which will be used to detect: planetary transits, optical transients, and track Near-Earth Objects. Status of current observations, and expected rates of extrasolar planetary detections will be presented. The consortium members, institutions, and further details can be found on the web site at: this http URL.
1 citations