ARIEL Celebrations

On Tuesday 26 June 2018 we will be celebrating ESA's selection of ARIEL (the Atmospheric Remote-Sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) as the next medium-class science mission!

The telescope to study the atmospheres of planets beyond our Solar System will be launched by the European Space Agency in the late 2020s. The venture will be led scientifically by our very own, Giovanna Tinetti. ARIEL will use a metre-sized mirror and instrumentation designed to analyse, in visible and infrared light, the chemical make-up of the gases that shroud distant worlds, or exoplanets as they are known. This information should provide insights on how certain types of planets come to form around particular stars.

The celebrations will include a presentation, speeches and refreshments. We hope that you are able to join us!

Links

• Professor Giovanna Tinetti's academic profile
• ESA announcement
• ARIEL space mission

Image

• Artist's impression of ARIEL on its way to Lagrange Point 2 (L2). Here, the spacecraft is shielded from the Sun and has a clear view of the whole sky. Image Credit: ESA/STFC RAL Space/UCL/Europlanet-Science Office