New eye on the sky focuses on search for other planets

A POWERFUL space telescope capable of discovering Earth-like planets is to be launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2026.

Plato (Planitary Transits and Oscillations of stars) will search for rocky planets orbiting sun-like stars, including those that could be habitable.

The observatory consists of 26 telescopes working together on a single platform. ESA has officially adopted the mission, marking a major milestone in the development of the project which was first proposed in 2007.

Plato will use the “transit” discovery method, which measures the tiny loss of light that occurs when a planet passes in front of its parent star, and will examine patches of sky for up to two years in order to capture more than one planetary transit.

Prof Laurent Gizon, director of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Gottingen, Germany, said: “This will revolutionise the study of the evolution of exoplanets and their host stars.”