Satellite probes the interiors of stars

PARIS, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- The European Space Agency says the COROT satellite has used a technique similar to seismology to open a new era for understanding the sun's interior.

COROT -- Convection Rotation and planetary Transits -- has applied that technique to three stars, directly probing the interiors of stars beyond the sun for the first time.

Oscillations can be observed on other stars through the variation in the light emitted by the star as the surface wobbles. That technique used by COROT reveals the internal structure of a star and the way energy is transported from the core to the surface.

"Other techniques to estimate stellar oscillations have been used from the ground but they are limited in what they can do," said Malcolm Fridlund, ESA project scientist for COROT. "The fact that COROT succeeded in probing the interior of sun-like stars with direct measurements for the first time is a huge leap in understanding stars in general," said Fridlund. "In addition, this will help us to understand, by comparison, our own Sun even better."

COROT is a mission led by the French and European space agencies, with contributions from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Brazil.