During trial of NASA ’s new Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite ( TESS ) , a comet was seen streaking across the sky — a fortuitous event that showcased the power of this fresh planet - seeking scope .
TESS , a blank - based scope that ’s expected to regain one thousand of exoplanets , officiallystarted to collect scientific data about two hebdomad ago , but as NASA explain ina new press release , the satellite inadvertently make do to conduct some astronomy even during its testing stage .
For a 17 - hour point on July 25 , TESS collected images of C/2018 N1 , a comet that was discovered earlier this yr by NASA ’s Near - Earth Object broad - study Infrared Survey Explorer artificial satellite . The workout shew that TESS is capable to garner crisp , stable images over an protracted period of time and along a broad region of space — a necessary skill set up for whiff out exoplanets in orbit around nearby stars .
The ensue video , pieced together from still images , show the comet moving from right to left as it orbits the Sun — a scene that ’s surprisingly pack with astronomical activity . The comet is presently about 29 million miles ( 48 million km ) from Earth , and it has sprouted a gaseous tail that extends across the top of the frame . Stars can be figure toggling between dim and ashen , a ocular artefact because of image processing ; C/2018 N1 is emphatically in front of these stars , not behind .
The conniption also contains exemplar of varying asterisk — star objects with change cleverness owe to pulsing conduct , rapid gyration , or being eclipsed by a binary partner . The small white dots that zip across the aspect are nearby asteroid . Towards the conclusion of the video , a weak all-embracing arc of light can be seen moving across the midsection of the skeletal frame from left to right . This is residual lightness that ’s jounce off of Mars , which is situate outside of TESS ’s view .
In all , some really cool stuff and nonsense from a brand new planet that just happened to enchant a comet drifting into the physique . It ’s a honorable planetary house that TESS is amply usable and ready to do lead some meaningful scientific piece of work . Its most exciting discoveries are still to come .
[ NASA ]
AstronomyNASAScienceTelescopes
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