NASA’s TESS confirms 3 new exoplanets

The first confirmed exoplanet is Pi Mensae c, about twice the size of Earth. The planet orbits the star Pi Mensae every six days, located about 60 light-years away in the southern constellation Mensa. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS

The second confirmed planet is LHS 3884b—a rocky planet about 1.3 times the size of the Earth, located nearly 49 light years away in the constellation Indus. It revolves around a cool M-type dwarf star, about 1/5th the size of our Sun. This planet is so close to its star that it may have pools of molten lava across is surface in the daytime. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS

The third planet was found near a K-type star called HD 21749—about 80 per cent the Sun’s mass and located 53 light years away in the southern constellation Reticulum. The planet, HD 21749b, is about three times the size of the Earth and 23 times its mass. It orbits its star every 36 days, and has a surface temperature of around 150 degrees Celsius. Scientists predict that this could be a water or gas planet. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS

TESS was launched in April 2018 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It’s part of the NASA mission in search for planets outside our solar system, including those that could support life. Artist concept of TESS spacecraft/ Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

TESS took this snapshot of a large magellanic cloud (right) and the bright star R Doradus (left) with just a single detector of one of its cameras in August 2018. The frame is part of a swath of the southern sky TESS captured in its “first light” science image as part of its initial round of data collection. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS

TESS captured this strip of stars and galaxies in the southern sky in August 2018. Created by combining the view from all four of its cameras, this is TESS’ “first light,” from the first observing sector which is now being used to identify planets around other stars. Its cameras also captured 100 short-lived changes, including six supernova explosions whose brightening light was recorded by TESS even before the outbursts were discovered by ground-based telescopes. Credit: NASA/MIT/TESS