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This animation shows the scientific objectives of the COROT mission. COROT - a French led mission with ESA contribution - will be the first spacecraft 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 it will be launched in December 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’, acoustical waves generated deep inside a star 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.
This a massive file but worth it the viewing.
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