CHEOPS – exploring the extrasolar world!
CHaracterizing ExOPlanets Satellite

Launch Date: 18 Dec 2019
Mission Duration: 7 years
Mission Operator: ESA
Altitude: 700 km above Earth

Mission Objective

To determine the size of known extrasolar planets and the size of their exo-moons.

 Mission Significance

Estimation of mass, density, composition, and formation of these stars!

  • The planet’s density reveals crucial information about its internal composition and structure!
  • For example, using a planet’s density, we might determine whether the planet’s primary composition is rocky, gaseous, or potentially has substantial water bodies.
  • The leading scientists of this project anticipate that these thoroughly studied transiting exoplanets will become prominent candidates for upcoming observatories.

Source: ESA

Instrument Characteristics

Size: 1.5m
Mass: 280kg
Field of view: 19X19 arcmin

Methodology Overview

  • By absorbing bright stars that are already known to host planets.
  •  It specifies in the super-Earth to Neptune size range.
  • It will produce precise measurements of the sizes of the exoplanets. The incoming data from CHEOPS helps to calculate their density.

 

CHEOPS’s Most Significant Discoveries

  • A ring around a dwarf planet named Quaoar.
  • The first detection of deformation of an exoplanet.
  • A new and unique planetary system named TOI-178. It contains 6 exoplanets. Five of those have orbital resonances [1] .

 

RECENT discoveries:

  • Four exoplanets orbiting four stars in the Milkey-Way. These exoplanets are called Mini-Neptunes. The Mini-Neptunes is one of the most common types of exoplanets. Those are in the size between Earth and Neptune and orbit around the sun closer than Mercury.
  • An uncommon star system boasting six exoplanets has been unveiled. These planets orbit their central star, HD110067, in a harmonious rhythm. The arrangement of their orbits indicates that the system has remained largely unaltered since its formation over a billion years ago.
The most recent discovery of CHEOPS – the orbital geometry of HD110067

The most recent discovery of CHEOPS – the orbital geometry of HD110067 – Source: ESA

Fun Facts

  • CHEOPS is the 1st space mission that conducts in-depth research to find exoplanets!
  • CHEOPS is the most effective tool for identifying subtle transits and precisely calculating the sizes of established exoplanets within the mass range spanning from super-Earths[2] to Neptune mass range (1- 6 times the Earth’s radius).

Mission Participants

  • Leading Team: Centre for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern, Switzerland.
  • Mission Architect: ESA
  • Launch Opportunity Acquisition: ESA
  • Spacecraft builder: Airbus Defense and Space, Spain.

 

 

This is one of the first steps towards studying the extrasolar world!

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ACKTAR PARTS:

Coating: Substrate: Instruments:
Fractal Black

 

 Gold

Aluminum

 Focal Plane Module

Baffle and Cover Assembly (BSA)

 

[1] Orbital Resonances – There are patterns that repeat themselves as the planets go around the star, with some planets aligning every few orbits.

[2] Super-Earth – A type of exoplanet with a mass higher than Earth’s, but substantially below those of the Solar System’s ice giants. The term refers only to the mass of the planet.