Astronomers report the detection of four new “hot Jupiter” exoplanets as part of the WASP-south survey. The newfound alien worlds received designations: WASP-178b, WASP-184b, WASP-185b and WASP-192b. The discovery is detailed in a paper published July 26 on arXiv.org.

The detection was made by a team of researchers led by Coel Hellier of the Keele University, U.K. They used the WASP-South telescope at the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO) in South Africa. WASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) is an international consortium conducting an ultra-wide angle search for exoplanets using the transit photometry method.

The astronomers identified transit signals in the light curves of four stars during an observational campaign taking place between 2006 and 2014. The planetary nature of these signals was later confirmed by follow-up observations at the Euler-Swiss telescope and the TRAnsiting Planets and PlanetesImals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST), both located in Chile.

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