{"id":16038,"date":"2018-05-19T13:45:59","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T17:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16038"},"modified":"2018-05-19T13:46:38","modified_gmt":"2018-05-19T17:46:38","slug":"tess-first-test-image-released-from-new-exoplanet-orbital-observatory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16038","title":{"rendered":"TESS: First test image released from new exoplanet orbital observatory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The new exoplanet finder <a href=\"https:\/\/tess.gsfc.nasa.gov\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">TESS<\/a> tries out its camera and gets a shot of a whole lot of stars:<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/feature\/goddard\/2018\/nasa-s-new-planet-hunter-snaps-initial-test-image-swings-by-moon-toward-final-orbit\" target=\"_d\">NASA\u2019s New Planet Hunter Snaps Initial Test Image, Swings by Moon<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16039\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-16039\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nasa.gov\/sites\/default\/files\/thumbnails\/image\/embargo20180518fordisplay4flat8x10300dpiedit1textflat.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"16039\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?attachment_id=16039\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"985,788\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"TESS_FirstImage\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-16039\" src=\"http:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage.jpg 985w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/TESS_FirstImage-768x614.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-16039\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>This test image from one of the four cameras aboard the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) captures a swath of the southern sky along the plane of our galaxy. TESS is expected to cover more than 400 times the amount of sky shown in this image when using all four of its cameras during science operations. Credits: NASA\/MIT\/TESS <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>NASA\u2019s next planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is one step closer to searching for new worlds after successfully completing a lunar flyby on May 17. The spacecraft passed about 5,000 miles from the Moon, which provided a gravity assist that helped TESS sail toward its final working orbit.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"1600\" height=\"900\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-AIbD2WxyN8?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As part of camera commissioning, the science team snapped a two-second test exposure using one of the four TESS cameras. The image, centered on the southern constellation Centaurus, reveals more than 200,000 stars. The edge of the Coalsack Nebula is in the right upper corner and the bright star Beta Centauri is visible at the lower left edge. TESS is expected to cover more than 400 times as much sky as shown in this image with its four cameras during its initial two-year search for exoplanets. A science-quality image, also referred to as a \u201cfirst light\u201d image, is expected to be released in June.<\/p>\n<p>TESS will undergo one final thruster burn on May 30 to enter its science orbit around Earth. This highly elliptical orbit will maximize the amount of sky the spacecraft can image, allowing it to continuously monitor large swaths of the sky. TESS is expected to begin science operations in mid-June after reaching this orbit and completing camera calibrations.<\/p>\n<p>Launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on April 18, TESS is the next step in NASA\u2019s search for planets outside our solar system, known as exoplanets. The mission will observe nearly the entire sky to monitor nearby, bright stars in search of transits \u2014 periodic dips in a star\u2019s brightness caused by a planet passing in front of the star. TESS is expected to find thousands of exoplanets. NASA\u2019s upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in 2020, will provide important follow-up observations of some of the most promising TESS-discovered exoplanets, allowing scientists to study their atmospheres.<\/p>\n<p>TESS is a NASA Astrophysics Explorer mission led and operated by MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and managed by NASA\u2019s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Dr. George Ricker of MIT\u2019s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research serves as principal investigator for the mission.\u00a0Additional partners include Orbital ATK, based in Dulles, Virginia; NASA\u2019s Ames Research Center in California\u2019s Silicon Valley; the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. The TESS science instruments were jointly developed by MIT\u2019s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and MIT\u2019s Lincoln Laboratory. More than a dozen universities, research institutes and observatories worldwide are participants in the mission.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">====<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><iframe style=\"width: 120px; height: 240px;\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&amp;OneJS=1&amp;Operation=GetAdHtml&amp;MarketPlace=US&amp;source=ac&amp;ref=tf_til&amp;ad_type=product_link&amp;tracking_id=hobbyspace&amp;marketplace=amazon&amp;region=US&amp;placement=1250098963&amp;asins=1250098963&amp;linkId=06b5268baad8fe2fe8d39baba17fb36c&amp;show_border=true&amp;link_opens_in_new_window=true&amp;price_color=333333&amp;title_color=0066c0&amp;bg_color=ffffff\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"> <\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The new exoplanet finder TESS tries out its camera and gets a shot of a whole lot of stars: NASA\u2019s New Planet Hunter Snaps Initial Test Image, Swings by Moon NASA\u2019s next planet hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), is one step closer to searching for new worlds after successfully completing a lunar flyby &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=16038\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">TESS: First test image released from new exoplanet orbital observatory<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-astronomy","category-exoplanets"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p34aWK-4aG","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13656,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=13656","url_meta":{"origin":16038,"position":0},"title":"Video: Overview of the TESS mission to look for exoplanets around nearby stars","author":"TopSpacer","date":"December 17, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Dr. George Ricker is the Principle Investigator of the TESS\u00a0(Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)\u00a0Mission, which will succeed Kepler as the primary US space observatory looking for exoplanets. He reviews the mission, which will launch in 2017, in this video: https:\/\/youtu.be\/fyvnXvZMOfA From the caption: The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) will discover\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Exoplanets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Exoplanets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/fyvnXvZMOfA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15792,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=15792","url_meta":{"origin":16038,"position":1},"title":"Videos: TESS to search nearby stars for exoplanets + Using AI to find exoplanets","author":"TopSpacer","date":"March 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0space telescope\u00a0TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)\u00a0is set to be launched on April 16th on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. TESS will continue the hunt for planets orbiting other stars as the Kepler exoplanet hunter's mission comes to an end. 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(See the recent post here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Astronomy&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Astronomy","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=12"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/wBCBThgIBmA\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14135,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=14135","url_meta":{"origin":16038,"position":3},"title":"Video: &#8220;Latest Exoplanet Results from NASA&#8217;s Kepler\/K2 Mission&#8221;","author":"TopSpacer","date":"April 1, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's an update on the latest exoplanet findings by the Kepler space observatory\u00a0and a preview of\u00a0the next generation of exoplanet search instruments:\u00a0Latest Exoplanet Results from NASA's Kepler\/K2 Mission | SETI Institute The all-sky TESS mission will soon revolutionize our view of planets transiting the nearest, brightest stars to the Sun,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Exoplanets&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Exoplanets","link":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?cat=46"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/qPL9cFg8e38\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9194,"url":"https:\/\/hobbyspace.com\/Blog\/?p=9194","url_meta":{"origin":16038,"position":4},"title":"TESS exoplanet finder makes a step towards approval + Video: What can SETI learn from Kepler?","author":"TopSpacer","date":"November 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The\u00a0TESS \u00a0(Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite)\u00a0project is developing a follow-on observatory to the Kepler mission to look for planets around other stars using the transit method (i.e. the dimming of the starlight when a planet crosses between the star and the line of sight to earth.) 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