COROT – the Exoplanet Hunter / ESA TV Exchanges / 23-06-2006

The next transmission of the ESA TV Service will be:

23-Jun-06 09:15 – 09:30 GMT

COROT – the Exoplanet Hunter

ESA TV Exchanges

Background information on the transmission:

Replay 1: 20 June 2006 – 15:00-15:15 GMT

Replay 2: 24 June 2006 – 11:30-11:45 GMT

Corot will be the first mission capable of detecting rocky planets, several times larger than Earth, around nearby stars (planets outside our Solar System are referred to as ‘exoplanets’). It consists of a 30-centimetre space telescope and will be launched later in 2006.

Corot will use its telescope to monitor closely the changes in a star’s brightness that comes from a planet crossing in front of it. While it is looking at a star, Corot will also be able to detect ‘starquakes’ that send ripples across a star’s surface, altering its brightness. The exact nature of the ripples allows astronomers to calculate the star’s precise mass, age and chemical composition.

From the ground, the only planets detected around other stars have been giant gaseous worlds (Jupiter-like planets), over 10 times the diameter of the Earth. Not affected by the distorting effects of the atmosphere, Corot will be the first spacecraft capable of finding worlds made of rocks. With Corot, astronomers expect to find between 10-40 of them, together with tens of new gas giants.

Corot is a mission by the French national space agency CNES with a major participation by ESA.

Today’s Programme provides an overview of the satellite and the mission of Corot.

The script is online as a PDF file under http://television.esa.int/photos/EbS46713.pdf

A WMV preview file is online under http://esatv-movies.e-vision.nl/videos/mphi/corot_vnr_18-05-06_06062006.wmv

This ESA TV Exchanges feed is transmitted by the European Commission’s “Europe by Satellite” (EbS) service. You can find the complete transmission schedule and download scripts and shot lists, also for ESA TV items, from the EbS Web site at http://europa.eu.int/comm/ebs/schedule.cfm

More background information can be found on http://smsc.cnes.fr/COROT/.

Transmission details: EUTELSAT HOT BIRD at 13° East (DVB/MPEG-2)

Horizontal, F=12,476 MHz (MCPC, Europe by Satellite)

SR=27,500 MS/sec, FEC=3/4

For further information, visit our website at http://television.esa.int. For other enquires, contact Claus Habfast, Tel +31 71 565 3838, Fax +31 71 565 6340, e-mail claus.habfast@esa.int.

With kind regards

ESA TV Service