NASA TESS
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NASA
NASA’s TESS Mission Finds Planetary System in New Way
For the first time, NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) mission has identified a planet orbiting a distant star thanks to ripples in space-time. Unlike the star-hugging transiting planets TESS regularly reveals, the newfound world is a super-Jupiter orbiting far from its host star. “When TESS launched, no one expected it to ever be capable of finding this kind of…
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NASA
NASA’s Planet-Hunting TESS Reveals Dazzling Night Sky
NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) has released its most complete view of the starry sky to date, filling in gaps from previous observations. Nearly 6,000 colored dots scattered across the image show the locations of either confirmed or candidate exoplanets — worlds beyond our solar system — identified by the mission as of September 2025 at the end of…
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NASA
For NASA’s TESS, Stellar Eclipses Shed Light on Possible New Worlds
A study of NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) data on stellar pairs undergoing mutual eclipses has uncovered more than two dozen candidate exoplanets, or worlds beyond our solar system. This method allows the mission to locate planets it couldn’t otherwise detect. A gas giant planet looms in the foreground at right, illuminated by a pair of stars, in this…
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NASA
TESS Status Updates
Jan. 23, 2026 NASA’s TESS Returns to Science Observations NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) entered safe mode Jan. 15 and returned to normal science operations Jan. 18. The operations team determined the issue arose when TESS slewed to point at a target, but its solar panels did not rotate to remain pointed at the Sun relative to the spacecraft’s new direction.…
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NASA
NASA’s TESS Temporarily Pauses Science Observations
NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) entered into safe mode April 8, temporarily interrupting science observations. The team is investigating the root cause of the safe mode, which occurred during scheduled engineering activities. The satellite itself remains in good health. The team will continue investigating the issue and is in the process of returning TESS to science observations in the…
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NASA
Discovery Alert: a Long Year for a ‘Cold Saturn’
The Discovery Two giant planets comparable to our own system’s Saturn orbit a star not unlike our Sun some 700 light-years away. The outer planet has the longest year – 483 days – of any found so far by NASA’s TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). It’s also among the coldest. Key Facts The two planets, TOI-4600 b and c,…
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