KEELE British astronomers have discovered three planets orbiting distant stars, including the first two to be picked up using a set of cameras that are dedicated to the search for new worlds.

The planets are all similar in size and composition to Jupiter, but orbit their stars so closely that their year is shorter than two days. They are unlikely to harbour life because of surface temperatures in excess of 2,000C (3,632F).

The discoveries have made the team from the Wide Angle Search for Planets (Wasp) the first group of astronomers to have found planets, known as exosolar planets, outside of our solar system in the skies of the northern and southern hemispheres.

Two planets named Wasp4 and Wasp5 were identified using cameras in South Africa. Wasp3 was picked up by a camera in the Canary Islands. The team has also found two other exosolar planets in the northern hemisphere.

Coel Hellier, of Keele University, who led the study, said of Wasp4 and Wasp5: “These two are now the brightest transiting planets in the southern hemisphere.”

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