Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite

Overview

TESS is NASA's planet hunter, designed to survey over 200,000 of the brightest stars near the sun to search for transiting exoplanets. It has significantly expanded our catalog of known worlds beyond our solar system, particularly around nearby bright stars.

Primary Objectives

• Search for exoplanets around the brightest stars in the sky
• Identify targets for future detailed investigations of exoplanet atmospheres
• Survey the entire sky for transiting planets
• Find Earth-sized and super-Earth planets

Notable Discoveries

• Discovered over 5,000 exoplanet candidates
• Found numerous Earth-sized worlds in the habitable zone of their stars
• Identified several multi-planet systems
• Detected unusual stellar phenomena including superflares and pulsations

Technical Specifications