COROT space mission ready to search out new planets and map the interior of stars

The COROT mission is scheduled for launch on the 27th December 2006, from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. COROT will detect planets orbiting around other stars and probe the secrets of stellar interiors as never before. COROT may discover the first planets elsewhere that closely resemble the Earth in size and composition. The mission is led by the French National Space Agency (CNES) to which the European Space Agency (ESA) and several partner nations are providing a particularly strong international 'flavour'.


COROT (pronounced 'Coreau') stands for 'Convection Rotation and planetary Transits'. The name describes the scientific goals of the mission. 'Convection and rotation' refer to the capability of COROT to probe into stellar interiors studying the acoustic waves that ripple across the surface of stars (a technique called 'asteroseismology'). 'Transit' refers to the technique by which the presence of a planet orbiting a star can be inferred from the dimming starlight, caused when the planet passes in front of it. To accomplish its two scientific objectives, COROT will monitor about 120 000 stars with its 30-centimetre telescope.

http://www.pparc.ac.uk/Nw/corot.asp