Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite
-
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…
Read More » -
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…
Read More » -
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.…
Read More » -
NASA
Discovery Alert: a ‘Hot Neptune’ in a Tight Orbit
By Grace Jacobs Corban The Discovery A Neptune-sized planet, TOI-3261 b, makes a scorchingly close orbit around its host star. Only the fourth object of its kind ever found, the planet could reveal clues as to how planets such as these form. Key Facts An international team of scientists used the NASA space telescope, TESS (the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite),…
Read More » -
NASA
Discovery Alert: A Rare Glimpse of a Newborn Planet
The Discovery A huge planet with a long name – IRAS 04125+2902 b – is really just a baby: only 3 million years old. And because such infant worlds are usually hidden inside obscuring disks of debris, it is the youngest planet so far discovered using the dominant method of planet detection. Key Facts The massive planet, likely still glowing…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA’s TESS Spots Record-Breaking Stellar Triplets
Professional and amateur astronomers teamed up with artificial intelligence to find an unmatched stellar trio called TIC 290061484, thanks to cosmic “strobe lights” captured by NASA’s TESS (Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite). The system contains a set of twin stars orbiting each other every 1.8 days, and a third star that circles the pair in just 25 days. The discovery smashes the…
Read More » -
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…
Read More » -
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,…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA Planet Hunter on Its Way to Orbit
NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched on the first-of-its-kind mission to find worlds beyond our solar system, including some that could support life. TESS, which is expected to find thousands of new exoplanets orbiting nearby stars, lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT Wednesday on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force…
Read More » -
NASA
NASA TV Updates Launch Coverage for Planet-Hunting Mission TESS
ASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) now is scheduled for launch at 6:51 p.m. EDT today, Wednesday, April 18, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The launch originally had been scheduled for April 16. Live NASA TV launch coverage begins at 6:30 p.m., and will be broadcast on NASA Television…
Read More »