Brief description: In this activity, students will consider whether life found in extreme environments on Earth could survive elsewhere in the Solar System. Students will examine the characteristics of different …
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Brief description: In this activity, students will consider whether life found in extreme environments on Earth could survive elsewhere in the Solar System. Students will examine the characteristics of different …
Brief description: In this activity, the principle of moments is applied to rotating systems to demonstrate the concept of a barycentre, or centre of mass, and how objects in orbit …
Brief description: In this activity, students will use an elliptical board to obtain speed and distance measurements for an object in an elliptical orbit. The results are then plotted on …
Brief description: In this activity, teachers and students simulate a comet nucleus in the classroom. Comets are considered to be time capsules containing information about the conditions of the early …
Brief description: Join Paxi, ESA Education’s friendly alien mascot, on a trip beyond our Solar System to explore exoplanets. In this video, targeted at children aged between 6 and 12 …
Brief description: In this set of experimental activities, students will investigate the survival abilities of tardigrades, also known as water bears. They will expose conditions and come to a conclusion …
Brief description: Is there a planet like our Earth out there? Scientists have discovered over 4000 exoplanets, or planets outside of our Solar System, that ESA’s CHEOPS satellite will study …
Brief description: Microbial life is known to survive in all sorts of extreme environments by going into a dormant state. Could they have survived long trips around our galaxy to …
Brief description: Find out how Cheops, the CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite, is going to investigate distant planets orbiting stars other than the Sun to discover what these alien worlds are made …
Brief description: In this set of activities students will learn how scientists study exoplanets with telescopes, using the transit method. Students will characterise exoplanets using model and real satellite light …
Brief description: In this set of activities, students will learn how scientists study exoplanets with satellites like Cheops (CHaracterising ExOPlanet Satellite), using the transit method. Students will build their own …
Brief description: During these activities, students will work in small groups to model the transit of an exoplanet in front of its host star using an ‘exoplanet in a box’, …
Complete the quiz to test your knowledge on exoplanets and get your certificate! Rules: The quiz is composed of 6 questions about exoplanets. Complete it successfully and you will receive …
Brief description: Find out more about the exciting hack an exoplanet activity in the videos below featuring exoplanet experts Didier Queloz, 2019 Nobel Laureate in Physics, Kate Isaak, ESA project …
Brief description: In this set of activities, students will learn about two concepts that influence solar panel design for space missions: the inverse square law and the angle of incidence. …
Brief description: Cloud chambers are boxes specially made to detect charged particles and radiation. In this activity, a cloud chamber is used to observe alpha and beta particles, the charged …
Hack an Exoplanet Guide for Educators Brief description: In this activity, students will characterise two exoplanets by analysing data acquired by ESA’s Cheops satellite. Students will work as real scientists …
Use the allesfitter software to find the exoplanets hidden in the Cheops data
Step 1 – Access the data To complete your detective’s mission you need to select your target and access the Cheops satellite data. We suggest that you start your mission …
Step 2 – The Size of the Exoplanet The depth of the exoplanet transit is equivalent to the ratio of the area of the planet’s disc and the area of …
Step 3 – Orbital Period and Distance The orbital period, T, of a planet is the time it takes the planet to complete one full orbit around its star. If …
Step 4 – Temperature and Habitability To this day, Earth is the only place in the universe that is known to host life. It is also unknown if life could …
Step 5 – Composition In our Solar System, planets are usually divided into two categories: rocky and gaseous. However, exoplanets can be very different from the neighbouring planets we are …
Welcome Exoplanet Detectives! Start your Hack an Exoplanet challenge now! To know more about your mission, watch the Introduction to Hack an Exoplanet video below. Once you’re ready to start …
Brief description: Didier Queloz, 2019 Physics Nobel Prize laureate, answers the questions of the best teams of the Hack an Exoplanet activity in this 1-hour webinar. Didier Queloz was awarded …
