PLATO: Searching for exoplanets with 26 eyes
PLATO: Searching for exoplanets with 26 eyes
PLATO features a novel telescope design: rather than a single mirror, it employs a modular configuration comprising 26 cameras. This design provides a wide field of view, approximately 49° x 49°, with high sensitivity at the centre of the field of view. This enables PLATO to detect the slightest fluctuations in the brightness of thousands of stars. Regular fluctuations in starlight can be caused by an orbiting planet. Through such transit events, PLATO can find Earth-sized planets orbiting Sun-like stars, including, potentially, those that offer habitable conditions.
