Sunday, April 22, 2018 9:48:04 PM
How TESS will hunt for alien worlds
"Reformer or War Criminal? Saudi Crown Prince Welcomed in U.S. as Trump Touts Weapons Deals"
By EarthSky Voices in Human World | Space | April 22, 2018
Launched last week, TESS will scan 200,000 close and bright stars, seeking new planets and possibly livable worlds. Here’s a roundtable discussion with 2 scientists on the TESS mission.
An artist’s impression of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and some of its planetary quarry.
Image via NASA.
Via The Kavli Foundation
A new era in the search for exoplanets — and the alien life they might host—has begun. Aboard a SpaceX rocket, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched on April 18, 2018. Over the next two years, TESS will scan the 200,000 or so nearest and brightest stars to Earth for telltale dimming caused when exoplanets cross their stars’ faces.
The Kavli Foundation spoke with two scientists on the TESS mission, to get an inside look at its development and revolutionary science aim of finding the first “Earth twin” in the universe. The participants were Greg Berthiaume, Instrument Manager for the TESS mission and Diana Dragomir, Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
****
The Kavli Foundation: Starting with the big picture, why is TESS important?
Diana Dragomir: TESS is going to find thousands of exoplanets, which might not sound like a big deal, because we already know of nearly 4,000. But most of those discovered planets are too far away for us to do anything more than just know their size and that they are there. The difference is that TESS will be looking for planets around stars very close to us. When stars are closer to us, they’re also brighter from our point of view, and that helps us discover and study the planets around them much more easily.
Diana Dragomir is an observational astronomer whose
research focus is on small exoplanets. She is a
Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Kavli
Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
Greg Berthiaume: One of the things TESS is doing is helping to answer the fundamental question, “Is there other life in the universe?” People have been wondering that for thousands of years. Now TESS won’t answer that question directly, but it’s a step, just like Diana mentioned, on the path to getting us the data to see where there might be other life out there. That’s something we’ve been struggling with and questioning since we were able to come up with questions.
TKF: What exactly do you expect TESS to find?
Dragomir: TESS will probably find 100 to 200 approximately Earth-size worlds, as well as thousands of more exoplanets all the way up to Jupiter in size.
Berthiaume: We’re trying to find planets that are Earth analogs, meaning they’ll be Earth-like in their characteristics, such as size, mass, and so on. That means we want to find planets with atmospheres, with gravity similar to Earth’s. We want to find planets that are cool enough so water can be liquid on their surfaces, and not so cold that the water is frozen all the time. We call these “Goldilocks” planets, located in a star’s “habitable zone.” That’s really our target.
With links and more - http://earthsky.org/space/how-tess-will-hunt-for-alien-worlds
Specifically to your "stashed"
Only 117 years 'til this asteroid (possibly) hits us
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/opinions/only-117-years-till-this-asteroid-hits-us-lincoln/index.html
Blow Up an Asteroid? NASA Scientist Says the Key to Saving Earth From Bennu May Actually Be Paint
https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/18091-paint-could-be-the-key-to-saving-earth-from-asteroid-bennu
"Reformer or War Criminal? Saudi Crown Prince Welcomed in U.S. as Trump Touts Weapons Deals"
By EarthSky Voices in Human World | Space | April 22, 2018
Launched last week, TESS will scan 200,000 close and bright stars, seeking new planets and possibly livable worlds. Here’s a roundtable discussion with 2 scientists on the TESS mission.
An artist’s impression of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and some of its planetary quarry.
Image via NASA.
Via The Kavli Foundation
A new era in the search for exoplanets — and the alien life they might host—has begun. Aboard a SpaceX rocket, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) launched on April 18, 2018. Over the next two years, TESS will scan the 200,000 or so nearest and brightest stars to Earth for telltale dimming caused when exoplanets cross their stars’ faces.
The Kavli Foundation spoke with two scientists on the TESS mission, to get an inside look at its development and revolutionary science aim of finding the first “Earth twin” in the universe. The participants were Greg Berthiaume, Instrument Manager for the TESS mission and Diana Dragomir, Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
****
The Kavli Foundation: Starting with the big picture, why is TESS important?
Diana Dragomir: TESS is going to find thousands of exoplanets, which might not sound like a big deal, because we already know of nearly 4,000. But most of those discovered planets are too far away for us to do anything more than just know their size and that they are there. The difference is that TESS will be looking for planets around stars very close to us. When stars are closer to us, they’re also brighter from our point of view, and that helps us discover and study the planets around them much more easily.
Diana Dragomir is an observational astronomer whose
research focus is on small exoplanets. She is a
Hubble Postdoctoral Fellow at the MIT Kavli
Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
Greg Berthiaume: One of the things TESS is doing is helping to answer the fundamental question, “Is there other life in the universe?” People have been wondering that for thousands of years. Now TESS won’t answer that question directly, but it’s a step, just like Diana mentioned, on the path to getting us the data to see where there might be other life out there. That’s something we’ve been struggling with and questioning since we were able to come up with questions.
TKF: What exactly do you expect TESS to find?
Dragomir: TESS will probably find 100 to 200 approximately Earth-size worlds, as well as thousands of more exoplanets all the way up to Jupiter in size.
Berthiaume: We’re trying to find planets that are Earth analogs, meaning they’ll be Earth-like in their characteristics, such as size, mass, and so on. That means we want to find planets with atmospheres, with gravity similar to Earth’s. We want to find planets that are cool enough so water can be liquid on their surfaces, and not so cold that the water is frozen all the time. We call these “Goldilocks” planets, located in a star’s “habitable zone.” That’s really our target.
With links and more - http://earthsky.org/space/how-tess-will-hunt-for-alien-worlds
Specifically to your "stashed"
Only 117 years 'til this asteroid (possibly) hits us
https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/22/opinions/only-117-years-till-this-asteroid-hits-us-lincoln/index.html
Blow Up an Asteroid? NASA Scientist Says the Key to Saving Earth From Bennu May Actually Be Paint
https://www.outerplaces.com/science/item/18091-paint-could-be-the-key-to-saving-earth-from-asteroid-bennu
It was Plato who said, “He, O men, is the wisest, who like Socrates, knows that his wisdom is in truth worth nothing”
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