Exoplanets are about to get their own A-list, a sign that the hunt for alien worlds is entering a new phase of maturity.
On 19 October, the European Space Agency approved the Characterising Exoplanets Satellite, or Cheops, which will stalk known alien worlds for signs of habitability. It represents a shift in exoplanet research, which until now has focused on the hunt itself, namely finding new planets in alien star systems.
The most famous exoplanet hunter to date, NASA's Kepler space telescope
detects the dips in starlight as newfound planets pass in front of their stars.
Set to launch in 2017, Cheops will look for such transits in a more focused, paparazzi fashion. While Kepler uses a wide-angle crowd shot to scan several systems, Cheops will home in on one star system at a time in search of the most interesting planets.
From estimates of mass and radius, Cheops will calculate the density of these planets and thus infer their internal structure, including whether they are rocky. It will also use transits to tell if a planet has an atmosphere.
Top of the A-list right now is the newfound Alpha Centauri Bb, the closest known exoplanet to Earth, says Cheops coordinator Willy Benz at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.
Have your say
Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.
Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article
Subscribe now to comment.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.
march madness scores doonesbury padma lakshmi daughtry lakers trade ann arbor news ides of march
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.