TESS discovers its 1st Earth-sized exoplanet

earthSky ^ | 26apr19 | By Paul Scott Anderson

[vannrox]

Launched in 2018, TESS is NASA’s new space-based exoplanet hunter. Now it’s found its 1st Earth-sized world orbiting a nearby star. The discovery bodes well, scientists say, for finding more similar worlds in the near future.

Artist’s concept of HD 21749c, the first Earth-sized exoplanet discovered by TESS. Image via Robin Dienel/Carnegie Institution for Science.

NASA’s newest exoplanet-hunting telescope, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), has now found its first Earth-sized world. It’s the smallest planet TESS has found yet in its still-young mission. Astronomers say it’s another exciting step towards finding worlds beyond our solar system that might be capable of supporting life.

The new peer-reviewed finding was published in Astrophysical Journal Letters on April 16, 2019, by astronomers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Carnegie Institution for Science.

The planet – labeled HD 21749c – orbits the star HD 21749, about 52 light-years from Earth. That is quite close, and it’s the kind of planet TESS was designed to help find. NASA’s last exoplanet-hunter – Kepler Space Telescope, which finished its mission last year – also found many smaller rocky planets of the type that most likely could be habitable. But, in contrast to TESS, Kepler focused

[vannrox]

Heads up

[Larry Lucido]

new space-based exoplanet hunter

"Shhh! I'm hunting exopwanets."

[Moonman62]

This particular planet, however, is probably not too friendly for life. It orbits very close to its star, completing an orbit in only 7.8 days. Its estimated surface temperature is 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 degrees Celsius).

...

Forget about it.

[Karma_Sherab]

Its estimated surface temperature is 800 degrees Fahrenheit (427 degrees Celsius).
Sounds like the perfect place to drop our global warming fanatics. Give 'em something to work on.

[Carl Vehse]

TESS has some catching up to do. A Feb. 23, 2017, NASA article, "Earth-Size Planets: The Newest, Weirdest Generation," previously claimed to have identified a "bumper crop of [seven] Earth-size planets" around a red dwarf star 40 light years away.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks vannrox and Larry Lucido.

· join · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post new topic · subscribe ·

Google news searches: exoplanet · exosolar · extrasolar ·

• NASA planet hunter finds its first Earth-size world