ESA Science & Technology - Ariel Definition Study Report (Red Book)

Publication date: 12 November 2020

Year: 2020

Copyright: ESA

Reference: ESA/SCI(2020)1

This definition study report, or Red Book, presents a summary of the very large body of work that has been undertaken on the Ariel mission over the 30-month period of the Ariel definition phase.

Ariel, the Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey, is the fourth medium-class mission in ESA's Cosmic Vision programme. It will address the fundamental questions on what exoplanets are made of and how planetary systems form and evolve by investigating the atmospheres of many hundreds of diverse planets orbiting different types of stars.