Exoplanet Exploration

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Sunshade

The TESS cameras have a strict set of temperature requirements that must be met in order for them to operate properly. The sunshade is covered by two separate special blankets. One blanket is on the outside of the sunshade and one is on inside. The blankets on the sunshade are there to limit heat transfer from the Sun, keeping the cameras cold and working.

Exoplanet News

Stars and their planets make their own eclipses – important scientific tools for detecting and characterizing exoplanets.

That Starry Night Sky? It's Full of Eclipses

That Starry Night Sky? It's Full of Eclipses

Two recently discovered exoplanets, gas giants possibly similar to Saturn, could be candidates for further atmospheric investigation.

Discovery Alert: a Long Year for a 'Cold Saturn'

Discovery Alert: a Long Year for a 'Cold Saturn'

A newly discovered 'super-Earth' dwells in the habitable zone of its parent star – and might have a roughly Earth-sized companion.

Discovery Alert: A 'Super-Earth' in the Habitable Zone

Discovery Alert: A 'Super-Earth' in the Habitable Zone

In a system with two known planets, astronomers spotted something new: a small object transiting across the Sun-sized star. This turned out to be another planet: extra hot and Earth-sized.

Discovery Alert: Earth-sized Planet Has a 'Lava Hemisphere'

Discovery Alert: Earth-sized Planet Has a 'Lava Hemisphere'

Fifteen years ago, astronomers delivered what is now an iconic direct image of an exoplanet, Beta Pictoris b.

Seeing, Believing: 15 Years of Exoplanet Images

Seeing, Believing: 15 Years of Exoplanet Images

Six "sub-Neptunes" orbit their star in a kind of rhythmic dance – one easily set to music.

Discovery Alert: Watch the Synchronized Dance of a 6-Planet System

Discovery Alert: Watch the Synchronized Dance of a 6-Planet System

Scientists find that a glowing cloud that obscured a star was caused by a cataclysmic collision of two giant exoplanets.

Discovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to Cosmic Collision

Discovery Alert: Glowing Cloud Points to Cosmic Collision

A large, gaseous planet orbits a star that should have destroyed it.

Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn't Be There

Discovery Alert: The Planet that Shouldn't Be There

With the discovery of six new exoplanets, scientists have tipped the scales and surpassed 5,500 exoplanets found (there are now 5,502 known exoplanets, to be exact).

Discovery Alert: With Six New Worlds, 5,500 Discovery Milestone Passed!

Discovery Alert: With Six New Worlds, 5,500 Discovery Milestone Passed!

Stars farther from the center of our galaxy possess fewer of the most common types of planets, a recent study shows.

Discovery Alert: On Our Galaxy's Outskirts, a Poverty of Planets

Discovery Alert: On Our Galaxy's Outskirts, a Poverty of Planets

Scientists used the Webb Telescope identified water vapor in the atmosphere of WASP-18 b, and made a temperature map of the planet as it slipped behind, and reappeared from, its star.

Discovery Alert: Webb Maps and Finds Traces of Water in an Ultra-hot Gas Giant's Atmosphere

Discovery Alert: Webb Maps and Finds Traces of Water in an Ultra-hot Gas Giant's Atmosphere

A team of astrophysicists and citizen scientists have identified what may be some of the last planets NASA’s retired Kepler space telescope observed during its nearly decade-long mission.

Astronomers Discover Planets in NASA Kepler's Final Days of Observations

Astronomers Discover Planets in NASA Kepler's Final Days of Observations

Explore Alien Worlds

Exoplanet Travel Bureau

This set of travel posters envision a day when the creativity of scientists and engineers will allow us to do things we can only dream of now.

Strange New Worlds

Explore an interactive gallery of some of the most intriguing and exotic planets discovered so far.

A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.

Historic Timeline

A planetary tour through time. The ancients debated the existence of planets beyond our own; now we know of thousands.