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Tom Wagg was 15 years old when he discovered a new planet, possibly making him the youngest to do so. Photo: Keele University
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A 15-year-old schoolboy has been credited with discovering a new planet 1,000 light years away, Keele University announced Wednesday after astronomers confirmed the discovery upon completing two years of observation.
While participating in a work-experience at Keele University in Staffordshire, England, Tom Wagg spotted the planet by finding a tiny dip in the light of a star as a planet passed in front of it. He did this while looking at data collected by the Wide Angle Search for Planets project.
The WASP project monitors millions of stars, searching for the telltale transits or tiny dips caused by planets passing in front of their host star, according to Keele University.
Though Keele University couldn’t confirm it, Wagg is believed to be the youngest person to have ever discovered a new planet, an impressive achievement considering that astronomers worldwide have found more than 1,000 extra-solar planets.
“I’m hugely excited to have found a new planet, and I’m very impressed that we can find them so far away,” Wagg, now 17, told Keele University.
While participating in a work-experience at Keele University in Staffordshire, England, Tom Wagg spotted the planet by finding a tiny dip in the light of a star as a planet passed in front of it. He did this while looking at data collected by the Wide Angle Search for Planets project.
The WASP project monitors millions of stars, searching for the telltale transits or tiny dips caused by planets passing in front of their host star, according to Keele University.
Though Keele University couldn’t confirm it, Wagg is believed to be the youngest person to have ever discovered a new planet, an impressive achievement considering that astronomers worldwide have found more than 1,000 extra-solar planets.
“I’m hugely excited to have found a new planet, and I’m very impressed that we can find them so far away,” Wagg, now 17, told Keele University.
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An artist’s impression of the new planet,
WASP-142b, orbiting its star, WASP-142. The planet is depicted as seen
from a hypothetical moon. A second, dimmer star is seen in the
background. Credit: David A. Hardy
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The WASP collaboration is the UK’s
leading team discovering new planets and involves scientists from the
universities of Warwick, Cambridge and St. Andrews. It also collaborates
with scientists in Switzerland, France and Belgium.
Astronomers from the University of Geneva and University of Liege
studied Wagg’s discovery and proved it had the right size and mass to be
a planet. It was given the catalogue number WASP-142b, being the 142nd
discovery by the WASP collaboration.
“The WASP software was impressive, enabling me to search through hundreds of different stars, looking for ones that have a planet,” Wagg said.
“The WASP software was impressive, enabling me to search through hundreds of different stars, looking for ones that have a planet,” Wagg said.
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