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Space
Space
Science
Keith Cooper

Tiny 14-inch satellite studies 'hot Jupiter' exoplanets evaporating into space

An artist's illustration of a planet with an evaporating trail of matter running behind it. A giant star is in the background.

While watching the atmosphere of seven "hot Jupiters" blow away, a suitcase-sized cubesat has  found some surprising variations in how quickly the giant, bloated worlds are evaporating.

CUTE, which stands for the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment, was launched in September 2021 and orbits the Earth at an altitude of 525 kilometers (326 miles). It is armed with a single ultraviolet CCD camera that watches for transits of giant exoplanets.

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