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Europe goes searching for rocky planets

26 October 2006

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COROT, due for launch in late 2006, will be the first spacecraft devoted to the search for rocky planets, similar to our own Earth. It will look for the tiny drop in light caused by a planet as it slips across the face of its parent star.

COROT is a CNES mission with ESA participation.

Credits: CNES/D.Ducros

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Artist's view of a rocky, Earth-like exoplanet

This artist’s impression shows the surface of a possible exoplanet placed at exactly the right distance from its parent star for liquid water to exist on its surface.

Credits: ESA. Illustration by Medialab

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Photo of the COROT's telescope primary mirror, manufactured by SAGEM/REOSC.

Credits: Sagem

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