2024-08-10 04:00:09
December 2026 will be marked by a major event for Europe: the launch of PLATO, a space telescope designed to search for Earth-like planets. Much more than a simple exoplanet-hunting mission, PLATO stands out for its scientific ambitions and cutting-edge technologies.
Credit: ESA
Launched aboard the new Ariane-6 rocket, PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars) seeks to discover potentially habitable worlds around stars similar to the Sun. This unique telescope will use 26 cameras to scan the cosmos and identify the characteristics of the exoplanets detected.
Dr David Brown of the University of Warwick recently presented the mission’s progress at a national astronomy meeting. PLATO’s primary goal is to find exoplanets in the zone habitable of their starwith the hope of discovering an equivalent of the Earth-Sun couple. But beyond simple detection, it is a question of determining precisely their masses, radii and densities.
PLATO is not only looking for planets, it is also interested in the stars themselves. Through asteroseismology, the study of stellar oscillations, scientists hope to obtain precise information on the mass, radius and age of the stars observed. Among PLATO’s multiple cameras, one is named after Arthur Eddington, a famous British astronomer.
PLATO’s camera system, comprising 24 “Normal” cameras and 2 “Fast” cameras, is designed to provide high redundancy and the ability to identify false positives. This configuration maximizes the mission’s field of view and scientific performance.
Ten of the final PLATO cameras have been built and tested, with the first being mounted on the optical bench earlier this year.
Credit: OHB System AG
Manufacturing and testing of the components is progressing rapidly. The front-end electronics of the cameras, provided by the Mullard Space Science Laboratory at University College London, are already in the calibration phase. The PLATO mission is therefore on track for its launch in late 2026, promising new discoveries about our Universe.
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