FIRST LIGHT

On Tuesday, Aug 7th 2018 NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey took its “first light” science image. This image was of the Large Magellanic Cloud and the bright star R Doradus.

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Image Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS

Comet Catching

Before NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey began science operations, the planet hunter sent back a stunning sequence of serendipitous images showing the motion of a comet. This is comet C/2018 N1, mapped here over a 17 hour period by TESS on June 25th 2018.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology/NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Northern Sky Mosaic

During its second year of operation TESS observed the northern hemisphere. Combining 208 images taken by TESS, this mosaic of the northern sky was created. Many celestial objects can be seen within this image, but most noticeable is the arc of the Milky Way - our home.

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Image Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS and Ethan Kruse (USRA).

Galactic Graveyard

MACS 2129-1 is a massive 'dead' disk galaxy. It stopped making stars only a few billion years after the Big Bang! It is now a cosmic cemetery of red dying stars.

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Image Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech.

Worlds orbiting other stars

The worlds orbiting other stars are called “exoplanets,” and they come in a wide variety of sizes, from gas giants larger than Jupiter to small, rocky planets about as big around as Earth or Mars. This rocky super-Earth is an illustration of the type of planet NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey can find.

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Image Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser.

AU Mic b

AU Microscopii is among the youngest planetary system observed by astronomers. The planet is located less than 32 light-years from Earth and its host star throws vicious temper tantrums!

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Image Credit: NASA-JPL/Caltech.

LHS 3844b

Discovered in 2018 by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Satellite Survey, LHS 3844b is a rocky planet located 48.6 light-years away with a radius 1.3 times that of Earth. The host to this planet is a cool M dwarf star, one of the most common and long-lived type stars in our galaxy.

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Image Credit:/JPL-Caltech