Here’s how NASA’s TESS will hunt for alien planets

15 Apr

This post was originally published on this site

Billions and billions of worlds lurk beyond our solar system. But most of the time, we can’t see them.

Alien planets large and small are usually drowned out by the light of their own stars when we try to spot them from Earth.

However, NASA’s TESS — short for Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite — is expected to change that after it launches to orbit on Monday.

The satellite is designed to seek out alien worlds circling far-off stars and reveal them to scientists on the ground.

“TESS is kind of like a scout,” TESS scientist Natalia Guerrero said in a statement. Read more…