Inspection of one of Plato’s CCD detectors

One of the CCD detectors of ESA’s exoplanetary mission Plato gets inspected. The spacecraft will have a total of 104 CCD detectors, four for each of its 26 cameras. The satellite will host the largest digital combined camera ever flown in space. These optics are needed because Plato will look for the slight dimming of starlight as planets pass in front of it.

Each CCD produces an image of 20 megapixels and operates at a temperature lower than -65°C for optimal sensitivity. The CCDs are approximately eight by eight centimetres. They are produced by Teledyne e2v in the UK.