NASA's New Planet Hunter: TESS

When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star's light by a measurable amount. This animation shows a single planet and the corresponding light curve. When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star's light by a measurable amount. Larger planets block more light. This animation compares two planets of different sizes and shows the changes in the light curves. When a planet passes directly between a star and its observer, it dims the star's light by a measurable amount. Light curves get complicated when more planets are transiting a star. The combined light curves can give us the same information as a single one, it just takes more work from astronomers to pick out each planet in the data. For More InformationSee [https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/5-ways-to-find-a-planet/](https://exoplanets.nasa.gov/5-ways-to-find-a-planet/) Related pages

This animation compares the fields-of-view of NASA's Kepler telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). It begins with Kepler's first observation zone and the constellation Cygnus. It adds a single TESS camera field for comparison and then pulls back to show all four TESS camera fields, called an observation sector, and the amount of sky they cover. The sphere of the sky unwraps into a flat projection, and all the regions observed by Kepler appear. TESS's full two-year coverage appears in the proper sequence, starting in the southern hemisphere and ending in the northern hemisphere. This updated version has sectors 14-16 shifted upward to match TESS's new observing strategy. Finally, the map is rewrapped into a sphere.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, J. Vargas (IPAC) This animation shows only the coverage of TESS. TESS's full two-year coverage appears in the proper sequence, starting in the southern hemisphere and ending in the northern hemisphere. This updated version has sectors 14-16 shifted upward to match TESS's new observing strategy. Finally, the map is rewrapped into a sphere. This version has no Kepler fields.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, J. Vargas (IPAC) This animation compares the fields-of-view of NASA's Kepler telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). It begins with Kepler's first observation zone and the constellation Cygnus. It adds a single TESS camera field for comparison and then pulls back to show all four TESS camera fields, called an observation sector, and the amount of sky they cover. The sphere of the sky unwraps into a flat projection, and all the regions observed by Kepler appear. TESS's full two-year coverage appears in the proper sequence, starting in the southern hemisphere and ending in the northern hemisphere. This updated version has sectors 14-16 shifted upward to match TESS's new observing strategy. Next, all 13 of the actual southern hemisphere sector images appear and fall into place in sequence. Finally, the map is rewrapped into a sphere.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, J. Vargas (IPAC) This animation shows only the coverage of TESS. TESS's full two-year coverage appears in the proper sequence, starting in the southern hemisphere and ending in the northern hemisphere. This updated version has sectors 14-16 shifted upward to match TESS's new observing strategy. Next, all 13 of the actual southern hemisphere sector images appear and fall into place in sequence.Finally, the map is rewrapped into a sphere. This version has no Kepler fields.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle, J. Vargas (IPAC) Original Version. This animation compares the fields-of-view of NASA's Kepler telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). It begins with Kepler's first observation zone and the constellation Cygnus. It adds a single TESS camera field for comparison and then pulls back to show all four TESS camera fields, called an observation sector, and the amount of sky they cover. The sphere of the sky unwraps into a flat projection, and all the regions observed by Kepler appear. TESS's full two-year coverage appears, starting in the southern hemisphere and ending in the northern hemisphere. Finally, the map is rewrapped into a sphere.Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/T. Pyle (IPAC) Related pages

Animation showing the TESS spacecraft and the coverage of its four cameras. Each camera covers a 24 degrees-square patch of sky and the four cameras are arranged in a vertical strip called an observation sector. Same as the above, but without onscreen text. Animation showing how TESS will observe the sky. TESS will watch each observation sector for at least 27 days, before rotating to the next one, covering first the south and then the north to build a map of 85 percent of the sky. Same as the above, but with no onscreen text. Related pages

Beauty Pass of TESS spacecraft Second Beauty Pass of TESS spacecraft Loopable animation of TESS spacecraft.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/CI Lab The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will discover thousands of exoplanets in orbit around the brightest stars in the sky. In a two-year survey of the solar neighborhood, TESS will monitor more than 200,000 stars for temporary drops in brightness caused by planetary transits. This first-ever spaceborne all-sky transit survey will identify planets ranging from Earth-sized to gas giants, around a wide range of stellar types and orbital distances. No ground-based survey can achieve this feat. Related pages