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Tess

All articles tagged with #tess

Record-breaking four-star system packs inner trio inside Mercury’s orbit
astronomy4 hours ago

Record-breaking four-star system packs inner trio inside Mercury’s orbit

Astronomers using NASA’s TESS have found TIC 120362137, the most compact known 3+1 quadruple star system: a tightly bound inner triple is orbited by a distant fourth star, with the outer companion about the distance of Jupiter from the Sun, while the inner trio would fit inside Mercury’s orbit. This rare architecture helps scientists study how such systems form and stay stable, and simulations predict the system will eventually merge into two white dwarfs in a ~44-day orbit, a scenario described in Nature.

Distant Star Hosts a Nearly Five-Jupiter-Mass Gas Giant in a 180-Day Orbit
astronomy6 days ago

Distant Star Hosts a Nearly Five-Jupiter-Mass Gas Giant in a 180-Day Orbit

Astronomers using NASA's TESS have discovered TIC-65910228 b, a gas giant with about 4.8 Jupiter masses and a radius near 1.08 Jupiter radii, orbiting a metal-rich sun-like star 864 light-years away. The planet completes an ~180.5-day orbit at ~0.7 AU, placing it in the warm-Jupiter regime. Follow-up with NGTS, HARPS, and CORALIE confirmed the transit and radial-velocity signals, while atmospheric studies remain challenging but possible with next-generation telescopes. The system may also host moons or rings, making TIC-65910228 b a compelling target for future exploration.

TESS probes interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS to reveal its spin
space1 month ago

TESS probes interstellar visitor 3I/ATLAS to reveal its spin

NASA's exoplanet-hunting telescope TESS observed interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS during Jan. 15–22, compiling a 28‑hour sequence to study the comet’s activity and rotation. The object appeared at about magnitude 11.5, and MIT researcher Daniel Muthukrishna stitched the observations into a video showing its trajectory as it leaves the solar system. Although TESS briefly entered safe mode, causing a time jump, the January data are publicly available, and scientists hope to infer how fast the nucleus spins and how dust and gas are shed from the comet.

NASA's Open-Source AI Flags 7,000 Exoplanet Candidates in TESS Sweep
science1 month ago

NASA's Open-Source AI Flags 7,000 Exoplanet Candidates in TESS Sweep

NASA released ExoMiner++, an open-source AI trained on Kepler and TESS data, which identified more than 7,000 exoplanet candidates from the first TESS data run by analyzing transit signals to separate real planets from false positives; the model’s open availability on GitHub aims to accelerate discovery and collaboration ahead of future missions like the Roman Space Telescope.

NASA's ExoMiner++ AI Expands Exoplanet Search Across Kepler and TESS
space1 month ago

NASA's ExoMiner++ AI Expands Exoplanet Search Across Kepler and TESS

NASA’s ExoMiner++ AI, trained on both Kepler and TESS data, identified ~7,000 exoplanet candidates from TESS in its latest run, expanding on the earlier ExoMiner success that validated 370 exoplanets from Kepler. The tool is open-source on GitHub, enabling researchers to search freely for planets in the growing public data, with future work aimed at extracting signals directly from raw data and informing upcoming missions like the Roman Space Telescope.

Nearby Star Hosts Newly Discovered Super-Earth Exoplanet
science8 months ago

Nearby Star Hosts Newly Discovered Super-Earth Exoplanet

Astronomers using NASA's TESS have discovered a super-Earth exoplanet, TOI-1846 b, orbiting a nearby M dwarf star about 154 light years away. The planet is roughly twice Earth's size, four times its mass, and likely water-rich, orbiting its star every 3.93 days. The discovery adds to TESS's catalog of over 7,600 candidate exoplanets and highlights the potential for further studies to determine its composition.

Citizen Scientists and Astronomers Discover a Massive New Gas Giant Exoplanet
science8 months ago

Citizen Scientists and Astronomers Discover a Massive New Gas Giant Exoplanet

NASA's TESS spacecraft, with the help of citizen scientists, discovered a rare, cool, and massive exoplanet called TOI-4465 b, located 400 light-years away. This gas giant, six times the mass of Jupiter, orbits its star at a relatively distant and elliptical orbit, making it an intriguing target for future study, especially with the James Webb Space Telescope. The discovery highlights the importance of global collaboration and citizen science in advancing astronomical research.

TESS Unveils New Saturn-Sized Exoplanet
science1 year ago

TESS Unveils New Saturn-Sized Exoplanet

Astronomers using NASA's TESS have discovered a new exoplanet, TOI-4994 b, which is a warm Saturn-sized planet orbiting a G-type star 1,079 light years away. This exoplanet, slightly smaller than Saturn, has a 21.5-day orbit and an equilibrium temperature of 717.6 K. The discovery adds to the relatively small number of known warm Saturns, with less than 20 identified so far. Further observations are needed to explore its history and potential planet-planet interactions.

Astronomers Discover Rare 'Hot Neptune' Exoplanet
science1 year ago

Astronomers Discover Rare 'Hot Neptune' Exoplanet

A new exoplanet, TOI-3261 b, has been discovered, marking it as only the fourth 'hot Neptune' ever found. Detected by NASA's TESS and confirmed with ground-based telescopes, this planet orbits its star in just 21 hours. Hot Neptunes are rare due to their proximity to stars, which often strips away their atmospheres. TOI-3261 b's density suggests atmospheric loss, and its formation remains a mystery. Future studies, including those with the James Webb Space Telescope, aim to uncover more about these elusive planets.