TESS's Southern Sky Panorama

This all-sky mosaic was constructed from 912 TESS images. By late October 2022, when the last image of this mosaic was captured, TESS had discovered 266 exoplanets and 4,258 candidates. The north and south ecliptic poles – the ends of imaginary lines extending above and below the center of Earth's orbit around the Sun – lie at the top and bottom of the image. The Andromeda galaxy is the small, bright oval near the upper right edge. The Lage Magellanic Cloud can be seen along the bottom edge just left of center. Above and to the left of it shine the Small Magellanic Cloud and the bright star cluster 47 Tucanae. Molleweide projection. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) In this movie, the TESS all-sky mosaic shown above builds up by showing individual sectors appearing in chronological order. Note that full-resolution movies are brief to conserve space. The full-resolution ProRes version includes an alpha channel. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) The entire southern ecliptic sky imaged by TESS is captured in this mosaic. The south ecliptic pole lies at the center, within the dark spot. Below it shine the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, nearby satellites of our galaxy. The bright band of the Milky Way, the central plane of our galaxy, arcs through the scene at left. As of late October 2022, TESS had identified 179 confirmed planets and 2,522 candidates within this view. Azimuthal equidistant projection.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park)) The TESS southern mosaic shown above builds up by showing individual sectors in chronological order. Note that full-resolution movies are brief to conserve space. The full-resolution ProRes version includes an alpha channel. Frames are available in both high and low resolution.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) The entire northern ecliptic sky imaged by TESS is captured in this mosaic. The north ecliptic pole lies at the center. The bright band of the Milky Way, the central plane of our galaxy, arcs through the scene at left. The Andromeda galaxy (M 31) can be seen as a prominent oval at about 10 o'clock. As of late October 2022, TESS had identified 87 confirmed planets and 1,736 candidates in the northern sky. Azimuthal equidistant projection.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) The TESS northern mosaic shown above builds up by showing individual sectors appearing in chronological order. Note that full-resolution movies are brief to conserve space. The full-resolution ProRes version includes an alpha channel. Frames are available in both high and low resolution.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) All-sky cylindrical (plate carrée) projection of TESS images. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (University of Maryland College Park) NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is an Explorer-class mission, operated by MIT, that is designed to detect planets passing in front of, or transiting, their host stars. Launched in 2018, TESS completed its primary mission in July 2020 and is now operating in its second extended mission. The mosaics on these pages combine hundreds of images from all 24°-by-90° sectors surveyed through October 2022, illustrating the mission's progress in mapping the sky. By then, TESS had discovered 266 exoplanets and more than 4,258 candidates.Prominent features in these images include the Milky Way, a glowing arc that represents the bright central plane of our galaxy, and the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds – satellite galaxies of our own located, respectively, 160,000 and 200,000 light-years away. In the northern sky, look for the small, oblong shape of the Andromeda galaxy (M 31), the closest big spiral galaxy, located 2.5 million light-years away.

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) spent nearly a year imaging the northern sky in its search for worlds beyond our solar system. Explore this panorama to see what TESS has found so far.Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight CenterMusic: "Strolling" from Above and Below. Written and produced by Lars LeonhardWatch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.Complete transcript available. This mosaic of the northern sky was assembled from 208 images taken by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) during its second year of science operations, completed in July 2020. The mission split the northern sky into 13 sectors, each of which was imaged for nearly a month by the spacecraft’s four cameras. Among the many notable celestial objects visible: the glowing arc and obscuring dust clouds of the Milky Way (left), our home galaxy seen edgewise; the Andromeda galaxy (oval, center left), our nearest large galactic neighbor, located 2.5 million light-years away; and the North America Nebula (lower left), part of a stellar factory complex 1,700 light-years away. The prominent dark lines are gaps between the detectors in TESS's camera system.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) Overlaying the figures of selected constellations helps sort out just where TESS has been observing and illustrates the scale of the panorama.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) The locations of more than 600 candidate exoplanets identified by Sept. 15, 2020, are shown on the TESS mosaic. Astronomers are studying these targets to confirm new worlds.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) As of Sept. 16, 2020, TESS has discovered planets around six northern stars, shown on this version of the panorama.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) Many remarkable celestial objects appear in the TESS northern panorama. Among them: the glowing arc and obscuring dust clouds of the Milky Way (left), our home galaxy seen edgewise; the Andromeda galaxy (center left), our nearest large galactic neighbor, located 2.5 million light-years away; and the North America Nebula (lower left), part of a stellar factory complex 1,700 light-years away. Some stars, like Arcturus and Vega, are so bright they create long spike-like artifacts called saturation trails; others, like Mirfak, produce ghostly smudges as their light reflects off elements of the TESS camera system.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) The center of the TESS northern mosaic is the sky’s north ecliptic pole and marks the center of the mission’s northern continuous viewing zone. This is where TESS sectors overlap for improved sensitivity to transits from planets with shorter and longer orbital periods. TESS discoveries here are ideal for follow-up observations with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled to launch in 2021. Targets in the central portion of this zone will be continuously available for observation and monitoring by Webb.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) This animation shows how the 208 images of the TESS northern mosaic fit together. The images of each sector appear in the order TESS captured them. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) Familiar stars shine, nebulae glow, and nearby galaxies tantalize in a new panorama of the northern sky assembled from 208 images from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). Within this starry scene, TESS has discovered several new exoplanets, and more than 600 candidates awaiting confirmation.The northern mosaic covers less of the sky than its southern counterpart, which was imaged during the mission’s first year of operations. For about half of the northern sectors, the team decided to angle the cameras further north to minimize the impact of scattered light from Earth and the Moon. This results in an obvious gap along the mosaic’s outer edge. TESS has now begun its extended mission, during which it will spend another year imaging the southern sky. The satellite will revisit planets discovered in its first year, discover new worlds, and fill in coverage gaps from its initial survey. Improvements to the satellite’s data collection and processing now allow TESS to return full sector images every 10 minutes and measure the brightness of thousands of stars every 20 seconds – all while continuing its previous strategy of measuring the brightness of tens of thousands of stars every two minutes. For More InformationSee [https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/nasa-s-tess-creates-a-cosmic-vista-of-the-northern-sky](https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/goddard/2020/nasa-s-tess-creates-a-cosmic-vista-of-the-northern-sky) Related pages

This plot combines the TESS northern and southern mosaics to show the extent of its primary mission survey. The yearlong southern panorama (bottom) was completed in July 2019, and the northern imaging was completed in July 2020. The prominent glowing band is the Milky Way, our galaxy seen edgewise. The ecliptic – the plane of Earth's orbit and the apparent yearly path of the Sun through the stars – runs straight across the middle of the map. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) This animated all-sky map shows how the 416 images in the TESS northern and southern mosaics fit together. The images of each sector appear in the order TESS captured them. In this plot, the ecliptic – the plane of Earth's orbit and the apparent yearly path of the Sun through the stars – runs straight across the middle of the map. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) TESS's two yearlong panoramas appear side by side in twin polar views centered on the southern (left) and northern ecliptic poles. The prominent glowing band of the Milky Way – our galaxy seen edgewise – sweeps across both vistas.Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA) NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) completed its two-year-long primary mission, during which it imaged about 75% of the sky, in July 2020. The southern panorama was completed in July 2019, while imaging for the northern survey took place over the following year. For about half of the northern sectors, the TESS team decided to angle the cameras further north to minimize the impact of scattered light from Earth and the Moon, resulting in a prominent gap in sky coverage. Related pages

Sector 1.The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from July 25, 2018, to August 22, 2018. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2018-08-07 at 04:59:42 UTC. The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds appear on the right-hand side. Sector 2.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from August 22, 2018, to September 20, 2018. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2018-09-11 at 18:59:40 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side. Sector 3.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from September 20, 2018, to October 18, 2018. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2018-10-10 at 22:59:39 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side. Sector 4.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from October 18, 2018, to November 15, 2018. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2018-11-10 at 08:59:38UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side. Sector 5.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from November 15, 2018, to December 11, 2018. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2018-12-06 at 04:59:37 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way begins to appear on the left. Sector 6.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from December 11, 2018, to January 7, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-01-06 at 12:29:36 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way appears on the left. Sector 7.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from January 7, 2019, to February 2, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-01-19 at 11:29:36 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way runs through the center. Sector 8.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from February 2, 2019, to Febuary 28, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-02-27 at 11:29:34 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way runs through the center. Sector 9.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from February 28, 2019, to March 26, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-03-13 at 00:29:34 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way runs through the center. Sector 10.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from March 26, 2019, to April 22, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-04-18 at 22:59:33 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way runs through the center. Sector 11.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from April 22, 2019, to May 21, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-05-06 at 03:59:32 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way runs through the center. Sector 12.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from May 21, 2019, to June 19, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-06-12 at 15:29:31 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the plane of the Milky Way appears on the left. Sector 13.TESS observed this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky from June 19, 2019, to July 18, 2019. TESS captured this individual image during one 30-minute period on 2019-07-17 at 19:59:29 UTC. The Large Magellanic Cloud appears on the right-hand side, and the edge of the plane of the Milky Way appears in the upper left-hand corner. NASA’s newest planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is now providing valuable data to help scientists discover and study exciting new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system. Part of the treasure trove from TESS’s first year of science operations includes wide-field pictures of the southern sky. The images show each of the 13 southern sky sectors TESS monitored.TESS acquired the images using four cameras; black lines in the images are gaps between camera detectors. Some stars are so bright they saturate an entire column of pixels on the detectors, creating long spikes of light.TESS’s cameras, designed and built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory and the MIT Kavli Institute, monitor enormous 24-by-96-degree swaths of the sky to look for transiting planets. These events occur when a planet passes in front of its star as viewed from the satellite’s perspective, causing a regular dip in the star’s brightness.After two years, TESS will have monitored 26 sectors for 27 days each, covering 85 percent of the sky. On July 18, 2019, TESS completed monitoring the last of its 13 southern sectors, then turned its cameras to the north to carry out a second year-long survey. For More InformationSee [https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-tess-mission-completes-first-year-of-survey-turns-to-northern-sky](https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-tess-mission-completes-first-year-of-survey-turns-to-northern-sky) Related pages

Quick link for B-ROLL for Mercury transit interviews.Quick link for AUDIO interview with Dr. Padi Boyd.Quick link for canned interview with Dr. Padi Boyd.Quick link for canned interview with Dr. Alex Young looking off camera. Just in! Mercury begins it's TRANSIT here on Monday, Nov. 11!! Quick link to canned interview in Spanish with NASA Scientst Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla.Click here to watch the Solar Dynamics Observatory's view of the transit. Early imagery of the 2019 Mercury Transit from the SDO spacecraft. The transit first appears in 193 Angstrom extreme ultraviolet light, followed by visible light, and finally 171 Angstrom light. Canned interview in Spanish with NASA scientist Teresa Nieves-Chinchilla. TRT 3:40 B-roll for Mercury Transit Live Shots Click download button for audio file.Scientist Dr. Padi Boyd talks about the Mercury Transit event. Canned interview with NASA Scientist Padi Boyd. TRT 3:16 Canned interview with Dr. Alex Young looking off camera. TRT 3:26 Watch Mercury Glide Across the Sun on Nov. 11Talk Live with a NASA Scientist During Rare Astronomical Event: Want to catch a glimpse of Mercury? Don’t look too close, but on November 11, our solar system's smallest planet will appear as a small black dot gliding across the face of the Sun. During this rare astronomical event, called a transit, Mercury’s orbit passes directly between Earth and the Sun, similar to a solar eclipse. These events only occur about 13 times per century! In fact, the next transit won’t take place until 2032. Chat with a NASA scientist between 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. EST on Monday, Nov. 11 to learn more about the safest ways to view Mercury’s journey across the Sun, and how events like this help scientists search for planets orbiting around distant stars. It’s never safe to look directly at the Sun, whether with the naked eye or with a telescope, but NASA will offer stunning, high-definition views of the Mercury transit in near real time, courtesy of the Solar Dynamics Observatory. Mercury will begin crossing onto the Sun at around 7:36 a.m. EST before exiting the solar disk at around 1:04 p.m. EST. suggested questions1. An amazing phenomenon is happening today that won’t happen for another 13 years — Mercury is passing in front of the Sun! What exactly is going on? 2. NASA uses events like this one to find planets around other stars. How does that work?3. We’ve always been told not to look directly at the sun. So how can our viewers see today’s event? 4. What do transits and eclipses teach us about our own solar system? 5. Will humans ever get to see the Earth transit across the sun? 6. Where can we learn more about stars and planets? satellite coordinatesInterview Location: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD HD Satellite Coordinates for G17-K17/Upper:Galaxy 17 Ku-band Xp 17 Slot Upper | 91.0 ° W Longitude | DL 12049.0 MHz | Horizontal Polarity | QPSK/DVB-S | FEC 3/4 | SR 13.235 Mbps | DR 18.2954 MHz | HD 720p | Format MPEG2 | Chroma Level 4:2:0 | Audio Embedded ** Contact michelle.z.handleman@nasa.gov or 301-286-0918 if you have any questions. Related pages