On Wednesday, +SpaceX successfully launched +NASA’s next-generation exoplanet-hunting space telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). It is capable of imaging an area 400x larger than that of Kepler and is expected to discover more than 20,000 exoplanets during its primary mission. The satellite will orbit the Earth every 13.7 days and cover 85% of the entire sky.
Like its predecessor, TESS will be searching for the phenomenon known as transit, where a planet passes in front of its star, causing a periodic and regular dip in the star ‘s brightness. Spectroscopy , the study of absorption and emission of light, will provide further information regarding the planet’s mass, density, and atmospheric composition.
Source: https://youtu.be/Q4KjvPIbgMI (+NASA Goddard)
Learn More: https://www.nasa.gov/content/about-tess (+NASA)
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