An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

An astronomical satellite led by the French Space Agency (CNES) in conjunction with the European Space Agency (ESA) and other international partners. Launched on 27 December 2006, its two objectives are to search for → extrasolar planets with short → orbital periods, particularly those of large terrestrial size, and to perform → asteroseismology by measuring solar-like oscillations in stars. Corot is the first spacecraft dedicated to extrasolar planet detection. It is equipped with a 27-cm diameter afocal telescope and four CCD cameras sensitive to tiny variations of the light intensity from stars. Corot detected its first extrasolar planet, Corot-1b, in May 2007. Mission flight operations were originally scheduled to end 2.5 years from launch but they have been extended to January 2010.

See also: CoRot, acronym from → COnvection, → ROtation, and planetary → Transits, chosen for its similarity to the name of the French painter Jean Baptiste Camille Corot (1796-1875), the first of the great modern landscapists, who marked a significant departure from academic tradition and strongly influenced the development of landscape painting in the 19th century.