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COROT and the new chapter of planetary searches

14 November 2006

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Artist’s view of COROT, the exoplanet hunter mission led by CNES, with ESA participation. Due for launch at the end of 2006, COROT will be placed on a circular, polar orbit around Earth that will allow for continuous observations of two large and opposite regions in the sky for more than 150 days each.

Within each region there are many selected fields that will be monitored in turn. The reason for the oppositely sited regions is that, because of the Earth’s movement around the Sun, the sun’s rays start to interfere with the observations after 150 days. COROT then rotates by 180 degrees and start observing the other region.

Credits: CNES/D.Ducros

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Artist's impression of exoplanet around a star

Credits: ESA 2003. Illustration by AOES Medialab

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A planetary system that looks similar to our own

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This illustration shows a newly discovered Jupiter-like planet and its hypothetical moon (the blue orb) circling the star 55 Cancri. A previously known large planet is just to the left of the star and a hypothetical Earth-like planet to the right of the star.

Credits: Lynette R. Cook

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The planet passes in front of the parent star

As the planet passes in front of its parent star, the brightness of the star decreases.

Figure based on image by Hans Deeg, from ' Transits of extrasolar planets'.

Credits: Hans Deeg

More about...

COROT overview COROT factsheet

Europe goes searching for rocky planets How many planets are outside our Solar System?How to find an extrasolar planet ESA ESTEC expertise and facilities assist COROT project Planet discoverer: An interview with Didier Queloz