TESS tagged posts

Observations from telescopes on Earth rival those from telescopes in space. A new, low-cost attachment to telescopes allows previously unachievable precision in ground-based observations of exoplanets – planets beyond our solar system. With the new attachment, ground-based telescopes can produce measurements of light intensity that rival the highest quality photometric observations from space. Penn State astronomers, in close collaboration with the nanofabrication labs at RPC Photonics in Rochester, New York, created custom “beam-shaping” diffusers – carefully structured micro-optic devices that spread incoming light across an image – that are capable of minimizing distortions from the Earth’s atmosphere that can reduce the precision of ground-based observations.

“This inexpensive technol...

The most successful technique for finding planets beyond our solar system so far is transit photometry, which measures changes in a star’s brightness caused by a mini-eclipse. When a planet crosses in front of its star along our line of sight, it blocks some of the star’s light. If the dimming lasts for a set amount of time and occurs at regular intervals, it likely means an exoplanet is passing in front of, or transiting, the star once every orbital period.

NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope has used this technique to become the most successful planet-hunting spacecraft to date, with more than a thousand established discoveries and many more awaiting confirmation...