Corot

CoRoT (Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission led by the French space agency CNES with contributions from the European Space Agency. Launched in 2006, it operated until 2013. The mission’s core objective was twofold: to detect exoplanets via the transit method and to perform asteroseismology by precisely measuring the brightness variations of stars. The instrument combined a small 27-centimeter telescope with a wide-field photometer, enabling continuous monitoring of tens of thousands of stars.

Observations were conducted in two fields near the center and anticenter of the Milky Way, with repeated long runs lasting weeks to months. The data allowed the determination of planetary radii, orbital periods, and, when possible, host star properties, as well as the internal structure and evolution of stars through their oscillations.

CoRoT contributed to the early era of exoplanet science, yielding several confirmed exoplanets and numerous planet candidates. Among its notable discoveries is CoRoT-7b, the first robustly confirmed rocky exoplanet outside the Solar System. Other discoveries included gas-giant and Neptune-sized planets such as CoRoT-4b and CoRoT-9b, as well as numerous systems with multi-planet configurations. The mission also advanced the field of asteroseismology by studying stellar pulsations, improving models of stellar interiors.

After more than six years of science operations, the mission concluded in 2013. CoRoT's legacy lies in demonstrating the effectiveness of space-based transit photometry and inspiring subsequent missions, including NASA's Kepler and the later CHEOPS project, in the study of exoplanets and stellar physics.