Next planetary survey aims to measure planetary densities

Space.com : The European Space Observatory in Chile is building a successor to the Super Wide Angle Search for Planets project called the Next-Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The survey will be looking for planetary transits of stars, characterized by the dimming of the star’s light. NGTS will survey 100 square degrees, a much wider area than previous projects. Astronomers will use images of the transits to measure the planets’ radii, and further examination will measure the radial velocity. With those two measurements they will be able to determine planetary densities. The NGTS team hopes that planets found around particularly bright stars could have their atmospheres analyzed via transmission spectroscopy.