Studying the Sun at High Time Resolution and The Wide Angle Search for Extra-Solar Planets

Damian Christian

I will discuss two scientific projects during my talk:

• ROSA
  Rapid Oscillations in the Solar Atmosphere (ROSA) is a multi-camera synchronized high cadence solar imaging instrument developed at Queen's University Belfast to be a common user instrument on the Dunn Solar Telescope at the National Solar Observatory (NSO). ROSA consists of 6 1k by 1k Peltier cooled frame-transfer CCD cameras with very low noise (0.01 electrons/pixel/sec) and 30 Hz full-chip readout speeds (200 Hz in binned mode). I will present the science drivers for ROSA, the current instrument set-up and parameters, observing modes, and future plans.

• WASP
  Astronomers have discovered nearly 300 planets orbiting stars other than our Sun. The majority of these discoveries have been made with radial velocity measurements (measuring the Doppler shifts of the planet's host star). Photometric transit surveys promise to complement this sample of extra-solar planets (ESPs) by providing additional information on the planets and especially their radii.

  I will discuss current extra-solar planet search techniques and focus on one such transit survey called, the Wide Angle Search for Planets (WASP), which uses the SuperWASP wide-field imaging system. Observations were begun with SuperWASP-North located in La Palma in April 2004. SuperWASP-North now has a sister telescope at Sutherland in South Africa. Both telescopes have measured the brightness changes of over 20 million stars.

  I will present the current data reduction techniques, and the detection of ESP candidates. I will discuss some of the 'tricks' nature throws at us in determining if these ESP candidates are true planets. And lastly, I will present new confirmed planet discoveries and their properties, and future prospects for planet hunting.