In search of Earth's sister: two European projects - Corriere della Sera

In both the significant presence of Italian scientists

In search of Earth’s sister: two European projects

The European Space Agency will launch the satellites Cheops (2017) and Plato (2024)

The satellite Plato (ESA)

Europe makes a serious effort in the research of Earth’s sister planet. Two projects approved by the European Space Agency ESA will lead to the launch of two satellites, Cheops and Plato, both involved in the most exciting challenge of our time. Cheops will start in 2017 while Plato will fly into space in 2024. They will have different tasks and in both the presence of Italian scientists at the National Institute of Astrophysics (INAF) is of great importance as evidence of the remarkable reputation they enjoy.

Plato, the satellite to find the twin of the Earth

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

CHEOPS AND PLATO – Cheops is a small mission. The satellite will be placed in orbit a star to peer at a time in order to flush out any exoplanets in his district. Plato on the other hand will be more complicated, with at least 34 wide-angle lenses that scandaglieranno the sky for eight years from its orbit around the Sun Participation in two projects of ESA is guaranteed by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The telescopes of Plato are designed by a team led by Roberto Regazzoni Observatory of Padova and professor of optics at the University of Padua. Together able to scan 100 000 stars at a time, while in his lifetime cosmic Plato will come to investigate in depth over a million stars, discovering the possible worlds around them.

EARTH TWINS – The likelihood of finding a twin Earth at this point will go up dramatically, and indeed the scientists involved believe the condition extremely favorable result scope dreamed of. Italian astronomers are involved about a hundred and belong, in addition to Padua, to the institutions of Catania, Milan, Florence, Palermo, Turin, Naples and Rome. A part of the processing of the information gathered will also be performed in the Peninsula from the center for the scientific data of ASI.

A BOOK – To get an idea of ??the challenge posed by the two new satellites that will follow in the footsteps of NASA’s Kepler, who discovered a large amount of extra-solar planets, it is interesting and useful to read the book Exoplanets (Princeton), written by a distinguished Italian scientist, Giovanna Tinetti, who teaches at the ‘University College London. The book tells the story of the extraordinary research since 1995 when it was identified the first planet (51 Pegasi b) near another star in the galaxy. Tinetti studies, in particular, the atmospheres of these distant celestial bodies where traces of water may approach the presence of life. And in the book explains, in a simple and very effective, the complicated work done by the observers to detect the presence and nature of distant worlds to which it is holding on our hope of not being alone in the universe.

Giovanni Caprara