The PLATO mission is scheduled for launch in December 2026. It is an ESA M-class mission designed to find small planets around bright stars via the transit technique. The light curves it obtains will be wonderful for other science goals, among which is the study of binary and multiple stars. We are creating the Multiple Star Working Group (MSWG) to bring together the community to best exploit this unique opportunity. We will assemble the many science cases, create target lists, and co-ordinate applications for PLATO observations. We include instructions on how to register your interest.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2502.07994,
title = {The PLATO Multiple Star Working Group (MSWG)},
author = {John Southworth and Pierre Maxted},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2502.07994},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
4 pages. Contribution to the conference "Binary and multiple stars in the era of big surveys," Litomysl, CZ, September 2024. Accepted for publication in Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnate Pleso. To join the PLATO MSWG please see this webpage: https://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/jkt/plato/index.html