Why is it in the news?
→ ESA’s CHEOPS discovered a four-planet system with a rocky outermost planet.
→ Provides insights into exoplanet composition and structure.
Category: S&T
Important Points
- European Space Agency spacecraft.
- Dedicated to studying known exoplanets.
- Observes transits to measure planet size.
- Focuses on super-Earth to Neptune size range.
- Launched on 18 December 2019.
- Sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude.
- Equipped with a specialised photometer camera.
- Measures exoplanet diameters within 10%.
- Helps calculate density when combined with ground telescope data.
- Density indicates composition such as rocky or gaseous nature.