The Hunt is On for the Closest ExoplanetsThis 2019 article by NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program talks about the exciting new ways the TESS spacecraft will be planet hunting in Earth's "celestial neighborhood". According to astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger, a member of the TESS science team, "Some studies indicate that there are many rocky planets in the habitable zone of cool stars, like the ones in our catalog. We're excited to see what worlds we'll find."
Do Earth-Sized Planets Around Other Stars Have Atmospheres?This engaging 2018 article by astrophysicist Ethan Siegel (published in Forbes Magazine) explores how the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and the TESS mission are expected to revolutionize the hunt for exoplanets that might harbor life. It explains how highly sensitive new technologies can be used to detect atmospheric data in Earth-like planets around M-class stars. Astronomers will look for strong chemical "indicators of life": water, methane, and molecular oxygen. Let's hope the JWST launches in 2021 as planned!
NASA Hubble: First Atmospheric Study of Earth-sized ExoplanetsThis news story, which broke in 2016, revealed the first atmospheric research on Earth-size planets within their star's habitable zone. The exoplanets, Trappist-1b and Trappist-1C, are "unlikely to have puffy, hydrogen-dominated atmospheres..." This is newsworthy because the lack of a smothering hydrogen-helium envelope "increases the chances of habitability on these planets", according to Nikole Lewis of the STSci Institute. How did scientists figure this out? They used spectroscopy to decode the light and get clues about the atmospheric composition of both Trappist planets.
NASA's TESS Discovers its First Earth-Size PlanetIf you want to find candidates for potentially habitable exoplanets, you need to think about size (smaller), type of planet (rocky, not gas giant), distance from host star (habitable zone), and composition of the atmosphere. This article, released on April 15, 2019, shares the news that the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered its first Earth-size world, orbiting a K-type star 53 light years away. The new planet is most likely rocky, circles very close to its star, and completes one orbit in just under 8 days! But the planet isn't in what scientists consider a "habitable zone": its surface is likely extremely hot. Its discovery is newsworthy because it could lead to the first mass measurement of an Earth-sized planet.
TESS Discovers Its Tiniest World To DateThis 2-minute video reveals the discovery in late June, 2019, of the smallest planet yet spotted by NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The planet's size is between that of Earth and Mars. It's too close to its star to support life, but its size is in the "just right" range we're looking for. Launched in 2018, the TESS mission is conducting a two-year all-sky survey, expected to reveal thousands of similar exoplanets around nearby bright stars in what is known as Earth's "solar neighborhood".