Andor cameras spot new planets

Astronomers have discovered ten new planets using Andor cameras.

The Royal Astronomical Society’s national astronomy meeting at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) announced the discovery.

Astronomers from the university also helped to discover the extrasolar planets as part of the wide area search for planets (SuperWasp) project.

The wide angle cameras used – designed and manufactured by Belfast company Andor Technology – have now discovered 15 planets comma making them the most successful cameras used by the SuperWasp programme since 2004.

An international team using the cameras based in the Canary Islands and South Africa found the planets while checking data from millions of stars for transits.

The cameras work as robots surveying the sky.

QUB’s Dr Don Pollacco, who led the project, said: "SuperWasp is now a planet-finding production line and will revolutionise the detection of large planets and our understanding of how they were formed.

"It’s a great triumph for European astronomers."

Last year, Dr Pollacco said that the team was very happy with the cameras that "play such an important role" in the discoveries after another similar find.