tess

NASA’s TESS Finds Intriguing World Sized Between Earth, Venus – NASA Science

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NASA’s TESS Finds Intriguing World Sized Between Earth, Venus – NASA Science

5 min read NASA’s Compact Infrared Cameras Enable New Science A new, higher-resolution infrared camera outfitted with a variety of lightweight filters could probe sunlight reflected off Earth’s upper atmosphere and surface, improve forest fire warnings, and reveal the molecular composition of other planets. The cameras use sensitive, high-resolution strained-layer superlattice sensors, initially developed at … Read more

NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations

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NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations

The TESS mission is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Launched in 2018, TESS has been scanning almost the entire sky looking for planets beyond our solar system, known as exoplanets. The TESS mission has also uncovered other cosmic phenomena, including star-shredding black holes and stellar oscillations. Read more about TESS discoveries at nasa.gov/tess. Source … Read more

That Starry Night Sky? It’s Full of Eclipses

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That Starry Night Sky? It’s Full of Eclipses

And astronomers can, in a sense, “see” eclipses among other systems of planets orbiting their parent stars. In this case, the eclipse is a tiny drop in starlight as a planet, from our point of view, crosses the face of its star. That crossing, called a transit, can register on sensitive light sensors attached to … Read more

Discovery Alert: a Long Year for a ‘Cold Saturn’

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Discovery Alert: a Long Year for a ‘Cold Saturn’

The decades-long hunt for exoplanets – planets around other stars – has so far yielded more than 5,500 that are confirmed to be scattered across the Milky Way, which likely contains hundreds of billions. But the prevailing detection method turns up relatively few “long period” planets, those with years lasting 50 days or more. This … Read more

Discovery Alert: A ‘Super-Earth’ in the Habitable Zone – NASA Science

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Discovery Alert: A ‘Super-Earth’ in the Habitable Zone – NASA Science

The recently discovered super-Earth, TOI-715 b, might be making its appearance at just the right time. Its parent star is a red dwarf, smaller and cooler than our Sun; a number of such stars are known to host small, rocky worlds. At the moment, they’re the best bet for finding habitable planets. These planets make … Read more

Discovery Alert: Earth-sized Planet Has a ‘Lava Hemisphere’ – NASA Science

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Discovery Alert: Earth-sized Planet Has a ‘Lava Hemisphere’ – NASA Science

Details: A team of astronomers analyzed this system using data from NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), which spots “transits,” or instances where planets cross in front of their star as they orbit, blocking a tiny piece of the starlight. Two planets had already been previously discovered in this planetary system, so to see what … Read more

NASA Features New Discoveries at American Astronomical Society Meeting – NASA Science

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NASA Features New Discoveries at American Astronomical Society Meeting – NASA Science

Throughout the week, expert talks at the NASA Exhibit Booth will discuss science from current NASA missions including Webb, Hubble, IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer), NICER (Neutron star Interior Composition Explorer), TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite), and Chandra ahead of its 25th anniversary; NASA’s upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope and SPHEREx observatory; the Habitable … Read more

Discovery Alert: Watch the Synchronized Dance of a 6-Planet System – NASA Science

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Discovery Alert: Watch the Synchronized Dance of a 6-Planet System – NASA Science

Then the scientists noticed something extraordinary. The three planets’ orbits matched what would be expected if they were locked in a 3/2 resonance. The next steps were all about math and gravity. The science team, led by Rafael Luque of the University of Chicago, worked through a well-known list of resonances that potentially could be … Read more

NASA’s Hubble Measures the Size of the Nearest Transiting Earth-Sized Planet – NASA Science

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NASA’s Hubble Measures the Size of the Nearest Transiting Earth-Sized Planet – NASA Science

The Hubble Space Telescope is a project of international cooperation between NASA and ESA. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the telescope. The Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland, conducts Hubble science operations. STScI is operated for NASA by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, in Washington, D.C. … Read more