The CHEOPS mission
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2021
The CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite (CHEOPS) was selected on October 19, 2012, as the first small mission (S-mission) in the ESA Science Programme and successfully launched on December 18, 2019, as a secondary passenger on a Soyuz-Fregat rocket from Kourou, French Guiana. CHEOPS is a partnership between ESA and Switzerland with important contributions by ten additional ESA Member States. CHEOPS is the first mission dedicated to search for transits of exoplanets using ultrahigh precision photometry on bright stars already known to host planets. As a follow-up mission, CHEOPS is mainly dedicated to improving, whenever possible, existing radii measurements or provide first accurate measurements for a subset of those planets for which the mass has already been estimated from ground-based spectroscopic surveys. The expected photometric precision will also allow CHEOPS to go beyond measuring only transits and to follow phase curves or to search for exo-moons, for example. Finally, by unveiling transiting exoplanets with high potential for in-depth characterisation, CHEOPS will also provide prime targets for future instruments suited to the spectroscopic characterisation of exoplanetary atmospheres. To reach its science objectives, requirements on the photometric precision and stability have been derived for stars with magnitudes ranging from 6 to 12 in the V band. In particular, CHEOPS shall be able to detect Earth-size planets transiting G5 dwarf stars (stellar radius of 0.9R⊙) in the magnitude range 6 ≤ V ≤ 9 by achieving a photometric precision of 20 ppm in 6 hours of integration time. In the case of K-type stars (stellar radius of 0.7R⊙) of magnitude in the range 9 ≤ V ≤ 12, CHEOPS shall be able to detect transiting Neptune-size planets achieving a photometric precision of 85 ppm in 3 hours of integration time. This precision has to be maintained over continuous periods of observation for up to 48 hours. This precision and stability will be achieved by using a single, frame-transfer, back-illuminated CCD detector at the focal plane assembly of a 33.5 cm diameter, on-axis Ritchey-Chrétien telescope. The nearly 275 kg spacecraft is nadir-locked, with a pointing accuracy of about 1 arcsec rms, and will allow for at least 1 Gbit/day downlink. The sun-synchronous dusk-dawn orbit at 700 km altitude enables having the Sun permanently on the backside of the spacecraft thus minimising Earth stray light. A mission duration of 3.5 years in orbit is foreseen to enable the execution of the science programme. During this period, 20% of the observing time is available to the wider community through yearly ESA call for proposals, as well as through discretionary time approved by ESA’s Director of Science. At the time of this writing, CHEOPS commissioning has been completed and CHEOPS has been shown to fulfill all its requirements. The mission has now started the execution of its science programme.
Exoplanets
Small mission
CHEOPS
High-precision transit photometry
Författare
W. Benz
Universität Bern
C. Broeg
Universität Bern
A. Fortier
Universität Bern
N. Rando
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
T. Beck
Universität Bern
M. Beck
Université de Genève
D. Queloz
Université de Genève
D. Ehrenreich
Université de Genève
P. Maxted
Keele University
K. Isaak
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
N. Billot
Université de Genève
Y. Alibert
Universität Bern
R. Alonso
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
C. António
DEIMOS Engenharia
J. Asquier
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
T. Bandy
Universität Bern
T. Bárczy
Admatis
D. Barrado
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
S.C.C. Barros
Universidade do Porto
W. Baumjohann
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
A. Bekkelien
Université de Genève
M. Bergomi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
F. Biondi
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
X. Bonfils
Université Grenoble Alpes
L. Borsato
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
A. Brandeker
Stockholms universitet
M.-D. Busch
Universität Bern
J. Cabrera
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
V. Cessa
Universität Bern
S. Charnoz
Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris
B. Chazelas
Université de Genève
A. Collier Cameron
University of St Andrews
C. Corral Van Damme
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
D. Cortes
Airbus Group
Melvyn B. Davies
Lunds universitet
M. Deleuil
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
A. Deline
Université de Genève
L. Delrez
Universite de Liège
O. Demangeon
Universidade do Porto
B.O. Demory
Universität Bern
Anders Erikson
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
J. Farinato
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
L. Fossati
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
Malcolm Fridlund
Chalmers, Rymd-, geo- och miljövetenskap, Astronomi och plasmafysik
Universiteit Leiden
D. Futyan
Université de Genève
D. Gandolfi
Universita degli Studi di Torino
A. Garcia Munoz
Technische Universität Berlin
Michaël Gillon
Universite de Liège
P. Guterman
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
A. Gutierrez
DEIMOS Engenharia
J. Hasiba
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
Kevin Heng
Universität Bern
E. Hernandez
Universität Bern
S. Hoyer
Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille
L.L. Kiss
Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia
Z. Kovacs
Admatis
T. Kuntzer
Université de Genève
J. Laskar
Observatoire de Paris
A. L. des Etangs
Institut d 'Astrophysique de Paris
M. Lendl
Université de Genève
A. López
Airbus Group
I. Lora
Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial
C. Lovis
Université de Genève
T. Lüftinger
Universität Wien
D. Magrin
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
L. Malvasio
Universität Bern
L. Marafatto
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
H. Michaelis
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
D. de Miguel
Airbus Group
D. Modrego
Instituto Nacional de Tecnica Aeroespacial
M. Munari
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
Valerio Nascimbeni
Università di Padova
G. Olofsson
Stockholms universitet
H. Ottacher
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
R. Ottensamer
Universität Wien
I. Pagano
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
R. Palacios
Airbus Group
E. Palle
Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias
G. Peter
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
D. Piazza
Universität Bern
Giampaolo P. Piotto
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
A. Pizarro
Airbus Group
D. Pollaco
The University of Warwick
Roberto Ragazzoni
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
F. Ratti
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
H. Rauer
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
I. Ribas
Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB)
M. Rieder
Universität Bern
R. Rohlfs
Universität Bern
F. Safa
European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESA ESTEC)
M. Salatti
Agenzia Spaziale Italiana
N. C. Santos
Universidade do Porto
Gaetano Scandariato
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
D. Segransan
Université de Genève
A.E. Simon
Universität Bern
Alexis M. S. Smith
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
M. Sordet
Université de Genève
S.G. Sousa
Universidade do Porto
Manfred B. Steller
Institut fur Weltraumforschung
G.M. Szabó
Magyar Tudomanyos Akademia
J. Szoke
Admatis
Nicolas Thomas
Universität Bern
M. Tschentscher
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
S. Udry
Université de Genève
V. Van Grootel
Universite de Liège
V. Viotto
Istituto nazionale di astrofisica (INAF)
I. Walter
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
N. A. Walton
University of Cambridge
F. Wildi
Université de Genève
D. Wolter
Deutsches Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR)
Experimental Astronomy
0922-6435 (ISSN) 1572-9508 (eISSN)
Vol. 51 1 109-151Ämneskategorier
Rymd- och flygteknik
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
Annan fysik
Infrastruktur
Onsala rymdobservatorium
DOI
10.1007/s10686-020-09679-4