Overview:

The primary goal of the PLAnetary Transits and Oscillations of stars (PLATO) mission is to open a new way in exoplanetary science by providing a full statistical analysis of exoplanetary systems around stars that are bright and nearby enough to allow for simultaneous and/or later detailed studies of their host stars.

Objectives:

• Detect Earh sized planets around solar type stars

• Detect super-earths around solar type stars

• Measure solar oscillations in the host stars of exoplanets

• Measure oscillations of classical pulsators

Instrumentation:

The PLATO payload will include an ensemble of 28 identical small, very wide-field telescopes, assembled on a single platform and all looking at the same 25° diameter field. Each one of theses 100mm pupil telescopes has its own CCD focal plane, comprised of 4 CCDs with 3854x3854 pixels of 18 microns.