Space telescope to seek new planets

will in chicago · **Posted:** Wed Dec 27, 2006 2:46 pm

I mentioned this elsewhere, and it will be interesting to see what this new probe might find in the next few years.

Quote:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6203161.stm

Space telescope to hunt planets

The French-led Corot mission has taken off from Kazakhstan on a quest to find planets outside our Solar System.
The space telescope will monitor about 120,000 stars for tiny dips in brightness that result from planets passing across their faces.

The multinational mission will also study the stars directly to uncover more about their interior behaviour.

Corot blasted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 1423 GMT, carried into a polar orbit on a Soyuz-2-1b vehicle.

A European Space Agency (Esa) spokeswoman said the take-off had gone smoothly.

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Mighty · **Joined:** Thu Dec 21, 2006 7:06 pm **Posts:** 19

I have heard about this. Supposed to be an "array" of scopes put up in space a distance from earth. Forget how far though. It will be able to analyze the light to find out their chemical makeup and whether or not they are habitable. Sounds fascinating to me.

Guest · **Posted:** Fri Dec 29, 2006 8:51 pm

Awesome! Keep us posted.

Space telescope to seek new planets

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