TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)

NASA’s Tally of Planets Outside Our Solar System Reaches 6,000 – NASA

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NASA’s Tally of Planets Outside Our Solar System Reaches 6,000 – NASA

It’s been 30 years since the discovery of the first planet around another star like our Sun. With every new discovery, scientists move closer to answering whether there are other planets like Earth that could host life as we know it. NASA/JPL-Caltech The milestone highlights the accelerating rate of discoveries, just over three decades since … Read more

Astronomers Map Stellar ‘Polka Dots’ Using NASA’s TESS, Kepler – NASA Science

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Astronomers Map Stellar ‘Polka Dots’ Using NASA’s TESS, Kepler – NASA Science

Scientists have devised a new method for mapping the spottiness of distant stars by using observations from NASA missions of orbiting planets crossing their stars’ faces. The model builds on a technique researchers have used for decades to study star spots. By improving astronomers’ understanding of spotty stars, the new model — called StarryStarryProcess — … Read more

NASA Citizen Scientists Find New Eclipsing Binary Stars – NASA Science

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NASA Citizen Scientists Find New Eclipsing Binary Stars – NASA Science

When two stars orbit one another in such a way that one blocks the other’s light each time it swings around, that’s an eclipsing binary. A new paper from NASA’s Eclipsing Binary Patrol citizen science project presents more than 10,000 of these rare pairs – 10,001 to be precise. These objects will help future researchers study … Read more

NASA’s TESS Spots Record-Breaking Stellar Triplets – NASA

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NASA’s TESS Spots Record-Breaking Stellar Triplets – NASA

Watch how the three stars in the system called TIC 290061484 eclipse each other over about 75 days. The line at the bottom is the plot of the system’s brightness over time, as seen by TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). The inset shows the system from above.NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Professional and amateur astronomers … Read more

How NASA’s Roman Telescope Will Measure Ages of Stars – NASA

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How NASA’s Roman Telescope Will Measure Ages of Stars – NASA

Guessing your age might be a popular carnival game, but for astronomers it’s a real challenge to determine the ages of stars. Once a star like our Sun has settled into steady nuclear fusion, or the mature phase of its life, it changes little for billions of years. One exception to that rule is the … Read more

Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights – NASA

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Why NASA’s Roman Mission Will Study Milky Way’s Flickering Lights – NASA

NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will provide one of the deepest-ever views into the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. The mission will monitor hundreds of millions of stars in search of tell-tale flickers that betray the presence of planets, distant stars, small icy objects that haunt the outskirts of our solar system, isolated … Read more