TESS Thread

[Gargamel]

On 4/21/2018 at 8:15 PM, VaPaL said:

@YNM you known why it won't scan the ecliptic plane?

 

2 hours ago, YNM said:

Hmm...

Well, maybe it's for zodiacal effects or something. The Moon also bobs up and down the ecliptic by roughly 5 degrees (at least from Earth).

My guess: Asteroids.   They'd give a bunch of false positives.   And we know from movies how dense the asteroid belt is.

AHHA!  Google Fu is strong with me today:

 

Quote

 

Sectors overlap at ecliptic poles for sensitivity

to smaller and longer period planets in JWST

Continuous Viewing Zone (CVZ)

 

https://tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/documents/TESS_FactSheet_Oct2014.pdf

 

Translation (with some educated guesses, and I'm stuck in this goofy font):  The Scan area of TESS would reach up to, but not including the poles if they included the ecliptic plane.   The JWST, being place in L2(?), would only be able to see deep into the ecliptic at limited times, while the ecliptic polar regions it can see all the time.  So they wanted to get the best coverage, ergo best data, from the Polar regions to give JWST more and better targets to look at. 

 

Given the expected lifespan of this mission, I would not be surprised to see a secondary or tertiary mission, like K2 (but not on accident this time) that would cover regions that received less attention on the first mission.  They are estimating the orbit would be stable for 20 years with little to no station keeping from the motor, so the craft should have ample opportunity to do multiple science missions. 

 

-------------------------

 

Aaaannnnd... this page should answer any technical detail questions you might have.  It's actually written in only semi-techno babble, so it's actually readable without having to just nod and smile:

https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/tess/docs/TESS_observatory_guide_v1.1.pdf

There''s more on the TESS/JWST overlap on page 14-15 of this document, but it won't copy/paste nicely here. 

[insert_name]

3rd perigee manuver complete, now on to the flyby

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1654518367935577&id=532821116771980

[insert_name]

 

Tess is in the final orbit

[insert_name]

http://nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2018/nasa-s-tess-spacecraft-starts-science-operations

[Wjolcz]

Pretty interesting how all this stuff is visible. Perhaps TESS could be used to study trajectories of potentially hazardous comets and asteroids?

Edited August 7, 2018 by Wjolcz

[Gargamel]

On 8/7/2018 at 5:59 AM, Wjolcz said:

Pretty interesting how all this stuff is visible. Perhaps TESS could be used to study trajectories of potentially hazardous comets and asteroids?

I don't see why not, as a secondary mission.  If they release the raw data to the public, I can easily see other research teams picking it up and running their own studies from it.    I was floored at how visible all the different stuff is.   Most images you have to almost squint to see differences.  These, everything was night and day. 

[Gargamel]

We're up to three so far:

https://www.iflscience.com/space/tess-has-discovered-its-third-exoplanet-a-subneptune-world/

[Gargamel]

And another.... 'Earth' sized this time.

https://www.iflscience.com/space/nasas-new-planet-hunter-has-found-its-first-earthsized-world/

 

[insert_name]

One of TESS's earlier discoveries atmosphere (or more accurately lack thereof) and albedo have been characterized

http://nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-gets-a-rare-look-at-a-rocky-exoplanets-surface

[ProtoJeb21]

1 hour ago, insert_name said:

One of TESS's earlier discoveries atmosphere (or more accurately lack thereof) and albedo have been characterized

http://nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-gets-a-rare-look-at-a-rocky-exoplanets-surface

I’m not surprised about the lack of an atmosphere; orbiting closer to a feisty red dwarf than Callisto does to Jupiter, LHS 3844b is practically staring down the gun barrel of its star, and is subjected to far greater radiation than most other red dwarf planets. What I am surprised about is its relatively cool temperature. Yes, a day side temperature of ~1100 K is high, but the planet is orbiting so close to such a dense star that I expected significant tidal forces to warm LHS 3844b to higher temperatures, probably at least 1300-1500 K. There is currently no evidence of tidal forces melting parts of the crust all around the planet; however, tidal-induced volcanism on a smaller scale cannot be ruled out. I spoke to Laura Kreidberg a few weeks ago, and she said that her analysis was not sensitive enough to detect night side temperatures below ~700 K, which means that less dramatic tidal heating would’ve gone by undetected.

LHS 3844b would be an absolute nightmare to land on if someone ever makes a mod for KSP with it. It lacks an atmosphere like Tylo, but 1.) orbits very close to a star, 2.) probably has magma on the surface, 3.) is hotter than Eve, and 4.) could have up to TWICE the surface gravity of Tylo.