1 00:00:07,880 --> 00:00:11,980 ESPRESSO — the next generation planet hunter 2 00:00:13,140 --> 00:00:19,840 A powerful new instrument called ESPRESSO has just been installed on ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile 3 00:00:21,440 --> 00:00:26,660 This exoplanet-hunter will for the first time combine light from the four VLT Unit Telescopes, to measure miniscule 4 00:00:26,660 --> 00:00:28,720 changes in the spectra of stars. 5 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:36,840 As a planet orbits its host star, its gravitational pull makes the star wobble a tiny bit. 6 00:00:38,300 --> 00:00:46,060 The less massive the planet, the smaller the wobble — rocky and potentially life-bearing Earth-like exoplanets are very hard to spot! 7 00:00:48,140 --> 00:00:55,620 By detecting this wobble with extreme precision, ESPRESSO will find and study smaller planets than any of its predecessors. 8 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:08,520 Transcribed by ESO, translated by —