Exoplanet-hunting TESS Spacecraft

[ilan]

TESS planet hunter snaps test photo showing 200,000 stars
Astronomy Now | 18 May 2018


An initial image from NASA’s new exoplanet-hunting TESS spacecraft shows
more than 200,000 stars captured in a two-second exposure. The first
science-quality image is expected next month. Credit: NASA

One of four cameras at the heart of the planet-hunting Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite – TESS – has snapped a stunning test photo showing an estimated 200,000 stars cantered on the southern constellation Centaurus.

The image was released by NASA shortly after Tess flew within about 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) of the moon 17 May for a gravity assist to nudge the spacecraft toward its intended 13.7-day orbit. A final rocket firing is planned 30 May to fine tune the trajectory.

Launched from Cape Canaveral on 18 April, TESS features four 16.8-megapixel cameras, each equipped with four state-of-the art CCD detectors. If all goes well, the spacecraft will spend at least two years mapping the sky, on the lookout for the tell-tale dimming that occurs when an exoplanet moves in front of its star as viewed from Earth.

The goal is to map 85 percent of the sky, identifying as many exoplanet candidates as possible with an emphasis on finding Earth-size to super-Earth-size terrestrial worlds orbiting in the habitable zones of their stars where the temperature would allow water to exist as a liquid – a requirement for life as it’s known on Earth.