The ESA’s CHEOPS (Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite) mission has announced its first discovery. It’s called WASP-189 b, and it’s a blistering hot temperature of 3,200 °C (5,790 °F), hotter than some stars. They’re calling the planet an “ultra-hot Jupiter.”
CHEOPS’ job is not to find exoplanets, but to find out more about exoplanets discovered by other missions like
Kepler and
TESS. CHEOPS is designed to examine known exoplanets orbiting bright, nearby stars. The goal is to determine the size of these planets, which will lead to a better understanding of their mass, composition, density, and formation. The mission was launched in December 2019, with a planned duration of 3.5 years.
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