PLANET logo depicting the locations of the five telescopes used

The Probing Lensing Anomalies NETwork (PLANET) collaboration coordinates a network of telescopes to rapidly sample photometric measurements of the magnification of stars in the galactic bulge undergoing gravitational microlensing by intervening foreground stars (or other compact massive objects). This network consists of five 1m-class optical telescopes distributed in longitude around the southern hemisphere in order to perform quasi-continuous round-the-clock precision monitoring. On a target-of-opportunity basis, less frequent spectroscopic measurements complement the rapid photometry for selected prime targets. Since 2005, PLANET performs a common microlensing campaign with RoboNet-1.0, a network of UK-operated 2.0m robotic telescopes.

In January 2009, PLANET has merged with the MicroFUN collaboration.[1]

Telescopes

The 40 inch (1 m) Elizabeth Telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory

For the 2006 observing season, the telescopes involved were (apart from the RoboNet telescopes):

Members

As of late 2006, PLANET had 31 members from 11 countries: France, United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Austria, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States.

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.