Results from the Wide-Angle Search for Planets prototype (WASPO) - I. Analysis of the Pegasus field

Abstract

WASP0 is a prototype for what is intended to become a collection of wide-angle survey instruments whose primary aim is to detect extrasolar planets transiting across the face of their parent star. The WASP0 instrument is a wide-field (9°), 6.3-cm aperture, f/2.8 Apogee 10 CCD camera (2K × 2K chip, 16-arcsec pixels) mounted piggy-back on a commercial telescope. We present results from analysis of a field in Pegasus using the WASP0 camera, including observations of the known transiting planet around HD 209458. We also present details on solving problems which restrict the ability to achieve photon-limited precision with a wide-field commercial CCD. The results presented herein demonstrate that millimagnitude photometry can be obtained with this instrument and that it is sensitive enough to detect transits due to extrasolar planets.