CUTE: The Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment

Exoplanets in short-period orbits provide a unique opportunity to observe phenomena critical to the development and evolution of our own solar system, including atmospheric escape, interaction with the host star, and the potential to study exoplanetary magnetism. At present, the theories explaining upper atmosphere observations exceed the number of relevant transit observations because these processes cannot be observed in broad-band visible/NIR light curves. Owing to their large sizes and short-periods, the physics of atmospheric mass loss can be studied on hot Jovian and Neptunian-mass planets by a dedicated small instrument operating at ultraviolet wavelengths, such as the Colorado Ultraviolet Transit Experiment (CUTE). CUTE will monitor planetary transits at near-ultraviolet wavelengths to study the physics of atmospheric escape and possibly detect the presence of magnetic fields on exoplanets.