ESA specialists have successfully installed 24 of 26 cameras on the PLATO telescope. This is an important step on the way to launching the spacecraft into space.
Technical design of the PLATO telescope
The PLATO (PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of Stars) telescope is designed to search for and study exoplanets. The observatory will look for them using the photometric method, by tracking small changes in the brightness of stars caused by transits of extrasolar worlds.
For this purpose, an optical system consisting of 26 cameras will be used. They have a very wide view and are positioned in a special way. The 24 “regular” cameras are arranged in four groups of six perfectly aligned elements. All of them will be looking at the sky in slightly offset directions. Collectively, the PLATO cameras can observe about 5% of the sky at the same time.
As for the remaining two “fast” PLATO cameras, they will shoot parts of the same field as the others. They take pictures very quickly, which will allow them to track the brightest stars, and send coordinates to the spacecraft’s system, which controls where it should be pointed.
Assembly of the PLATO telescope
At this point, the PLATO optical system assembly work is nearing completion. ESA recently reported the successful installation of all 24 “conventional” cameras. The remaining two will be installed in the coming weeks.
In parallel, engineers are assembling the service module of the telescope. It contains computers designed to control the cameras and other critical components of the vehicle, including orientation, propulsion, power distribution, communications and data transmission systems.
The next major step in the construction of PLATO will be to connect the service module to the payload module that carries the cameras. This work is scheduled to be done over the summer.
PLATO is scheduled for launch in 2026. The telescope will be placed in halo-orbit around the L2 Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system.
PLATO is expected to check over 200,000 star systems during its lifetime. In addition to searching for exoplanets, the data collected by the mission should dramatically improve our understanding of stars. The fact is that they are not solid objects, but fluctuate like jelly. By observing these “starbursts,” encoded in subtle changes in a star’s brightness, PLATO will tell us about their inner workings and age.
According to ESA
