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<b>Planet hunting telescope in South Africa wins prestigious award<br>
<br>
</b>The Wide Angle Search for Planets experiment, SuperWASP, which has
a telescope located outside the Karoo town of Sutherland at the South
African Astronomical Observatory has won the Group Achievement Award
for Astronomy presented by the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS). The
RAS, the UK's voice for professional astronomers, annually presents a
number of prizes honouring individuals and groups who have made an
outstanding contribution to astronomy and astrophysics. The prizes will
be presented at the 2010 National Astronomy Meeting
(NAM 2010) to be held in Glasgow between the 12th and the 16th of
April.
<br>
<br>
<b class="moz-txt-star"><span class="moz-txt-tag"></span><span
class="moz-txt-tag"></span></b>SuperWASP
has so far detected 18 planets in orbit
around stars other than the Sun (extrasolar planets or exoplanets).
This planet search experiment uses two
clusters of 8 cameras, one on La Palma and one in South Africa,
watching
for characteristic dips in the brightness of stars as planets pass in
front of them. Despite their modest resources, the team have made a
world-class contribution to exoplanet science.
Of the 18 planets detected, 10 were found from South Africa. The
S.A. Astronomical Observatory in Sutherland has among the darkest night
skies of the many observatories around the world, which critically aids
in the detection of the minute changes in the brightness of the stars
due to their orbiting planets. <br>
<br>
SuperWASP is a consortium of 8 academic institutions: the University of
Cambridge, the IAC, the Isaac Newton Group of telescopes, the
University
of Keele, the University of Leicester, the Open University, Queen's
University Belfast and St Andrew's University. <br>
<br>
More information about SuperWasp and contact details can be found at: <br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.superwasp.org/">http://www.superwasp.org/</a><br>
<br>
The official Royal Astronomical Society (RAS) press release can be
found at:<br>
<a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1692&Itemid=2">http://www.ras.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1692&Itemid=2</a><br>
<br>
Dr. Enrico A. Olivier<br>
S.A. Astronomical Observatory<br>
Tel: (021) 447 0025<br>
Cell: 083 483 5557<br>
Email: <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:olivier@saao.ac.za">olivier@saao.ac.za</a><br>
<br>
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