After a quick listener question from Graham in Highfields, Australia, this week’s show is all about TESS: The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite.
TESS is a brand new space telescope that, at the time of recording, was sitting atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, preparing for launch. Once in orbit, TESS will spend two years scanning almost the entire sky searching for exoplanets around stars in our local area of the Milky Way Galaxy.
Emily is particularly excited because the data TESS will send back will also contain loads of info for astronomers interested in variable stars, her own area of expertise.
So keep your fingers and toes crossed for a safe launch and successful mission. Go TESS go!
SHOW NOTES
Syzygy is produced by Chris Stewart and co-hosted by Dr Emily Brunsden from the Department of Physics at the University of York.
Find us on Twitter: @syzygypod twitter.com/SyzygyPod
Or just visit us at home: syzygy.fm
Emily at the University of York: www.york.ac.uk/physics/people/brunsden/
Chris online: kipstewart.com
Some of the things we talk about in this episode:
Astronomical naming schemes: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronomical_naming_conventions
TESS, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite: tess.gsfc.nasa.gov
The best exoplanet pages out there — get lost in the awesome! exoplanets.nasa.gov/
Kepler and K2 missions: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html
Comparing Kepler and TESS fields of view: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=12885&button=recent
Exoplanet atmospheres: www.newscientist.com/article/2130730-neptune-like-exoplanet-spotted-that-has-a-watery-atmosphere/
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/03/180301144131.htmTESS’s Mission Objectives: heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/tess/objectives.html
TESS’s orbit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AIbD2WxyN8
SpaceX StarMan: youtu.be/aBr2kKAHN6M
Fly Your Exoplanet on TESS: tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/fly_your_exoplanet.html
tess.gsfc.nasa.gov/fly_your_exoplanet_pics.htmlJames Webb Space Telescope: jwst.nasa.gov
JWST and Hubble mirror comparison: jwst.nasa.gov/mirrors.html
JWST’s L2 Lagrange Point: www.wired.com/2011/08/james-webb-space-telescope-and-l2-orbits/
Lagrange and Laplace: manyworldstheory.com/2014/11/24/lagrange-laplace-and-legendre-which-one-is-which/