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NASA's planet-hunting TESS spacecraft captures 'first light' image
Back in May, one of the cameras on NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) snapped a two-second test exposure to make sure that it works. It was but a taste of what we can expect from Kepler's successor, though, and now we finally know what its cameras are capable of. The planet-hunting spacecraft's four cameras have taken their "first light" image -- the first astronomical photo after a telescope has been assembled -- showing the satellite's full field of view.
NASA's planet-hunting TESS spacecraft snaps its first photo
TESS, NASA's new exoplanet-hunting spacecraft, has captured its first image ever, giving us a glimpse of what its powerful "eyes" can see. The spacecraft's science team used one of its four cameras to snap a two-second test exposure as part of their preparations now that TESS is only a month away from officially starting its science operations. Their photo shows over 200,000 stars with the southern constellation Centaurus at the center and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, the Beta Centauri, visible on the lower left edge (see the full image below the fold).
The new stars of reggae are nothing like the old ones
Earthly music just ain't enough for reggae / rock band Echo Movement. In search of extraterrestrial inspiration, they hooked up with researchers at Georgia Tech's Sonification Lab, which specializes in turning ugly numbers into beautiful music. Using data from NASA's Kepler telescope and its search for Earth II, SonLab generated "sequences of sonified musical pitches" from fluctuations in a star's brightness (meet Kepler 4665989). Echo Movement got their loop on and composed a harmony from the sequences, adding a tremolo effect from another star's pattern for a softer sound. Unfortunately, the finished track isn't out til September, but in the meantime you can hear the six-second celestial hook at the source link -- just don't blame us if you get pangs of Nokia-stalgia. Also, if you want to imagine how Echo Movement might use the sample, we've embedded one of their rarer songs -- that doesn't involve Spider-Man's girlfriend -- after the break.
Volunteer scientists discover two possible planets, tell NASA it missed a spot
Proving it's not all about edu-mah-cation, a group of casual star-gazers has stumbled upon what might well be a pair of new planets. Following on from gamers' success with complicated medical puzzles, an army of 40,000 online volunteer astronomy nerds signed up to the Planet Hunters project to help mine through NASA data. One of the possible planets they discovered is roughly two and a half times the size of Earth, while the other a whopping eight times bigger than this revolving ball of blue and green we call home. The project uses data from NASA's Kepler telescope, which registers fluctuations in brightness as objects pass in front of distant stars -- a setup that's helped scientists discover 1,235 potential alien planets in its first four months. Obviously, though, the technology isn't perfect, which is where the project's muggle volunteers (assisted by Oxford and University of Chicago researchers) come in. They've been combing through NASA's readings and are now sifting through the next 90 days of Kepler observations. [Image credit: NASA]
