CHEOPS
An astronomical waltz reveals a sextuplet of planets
An international collaboration between astronomers using the CHEOPS and TESS space satellites, including NCCR PlanetS members from the University of Bern and the University of Geneva, have found a key new system of six transiting planets orbiting a bright star in a harmonic rhythm. This rare property enabled the team to determine the planetary orbits […]
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Elusive planets play “hide and seek” with CHEOPS
With the help of the CHEOPS space telescope an international team of European astronomers managed to clearly identify the existence of four new exoplanets. The four mini-Neptunes are smaller and cooler, and more difficult to find than the so-called Hot Jupiter exoplanets which have been found in abundance. Two of the four resulting papers are […]
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CHEOPS mission extended
After more than three years in orbit, the mission of the CHEOPS space telescope has just been extended. Led by the University of Bern in collaboration with the University of Geneva, CHEOPS is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and Switzerland. On March 7th, ESA’s Science Programme Committee has confirmed its continued […]
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The most stable source of light
To test the accuracy and stability of the CHEOPS photometer, a light source with a variability of less than the 20 ppm is required for the satellite. Since this type of source does not exist on the market, a team of engineers and technicians of the NCCR PlanetS and the University of Geneva has developed […]
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Hot and stormy at high altitudes
Studying the atmosphere of an exoplanet, astronomers of the NCCR PlanetS derived a temperature profile with unprecedented precision. Their results are based on data collected with a relatively small ground-based telescope. This opens completely new perspectives for the characterization of remote exoplanetary atmospheres. High up in the atmosphere of the exoplanet named HD 189733b it […]
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Test chamber for CHEOPS is installed
An outstanding vacuum chamber in a brand new laboratory is now waiting for the space telescope CHEOPS at the Center for Space and Habitability (CSH) of the University of Berne. Space experts will put the completely assembled flight instrument in the chamber and calibrate it therein under space conditions. At five and a half tones, […]
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CHEOPS Video
The CHaracterizing ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) has been selected in 2012 as the first S-class mission in ESA’s Science Programme. It is the first mission dedicated to search for planetary transits by means of ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. CHEOPS is a joint ESA-Switzerland mission. Watch a short video describing CHEOPS […]
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