NASA’s New Planet Hunter Satellite Snaps First Image , 200,000 Stars or More

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite or TESS for short is preparing for its final burn to put it into its operating orbit on May 30th and is expected to commence scientific operation in mid-June , TESS has just passed the Moon which was used to help the spacecraft toward its final working orbit.

On its way to orbit NASA has snapped its first image from one of TESS's four cameras , the image shows the southern constellation Centaurus with over 200.000 stars on display each capable of nurturing their own small rocky blue marble .... if all goes to plan TESS will sniff them out.

Despite the number of stars in the photo, it represents just a tiny part of what TESS can keep its eyes on -- the spacecraft can cover over 400 times as much sky as what's shown in the picture. It's expected not just to find thousands more previously undiscovered exoplanets, but also to gather data on them. NASA will then use the James Webb Telescope to take a closer look at the most promising TESS findings in order to study their atmospheres. The hope is to find habitable, Goldilocks (not too hot, not too cold) planets in neighboring galaxies and beyond.
www.engadget.com...

It's all coming together nicely , the Golden age of space exploration continues.

NASA explain the unique orbit of TESS and its mission.

a reply to: gortex

this # is so cool. i love thinking about it but it is just so hard to comprehend. how big space is.
200k stars in this one shot.

it i so hard to even think about billions of galaxies each one with billions of stars.

a reply to: TinySickTears

Mind-boggling isn't it , the vastness is beyond comprehension and the possibilities endless , it's a playground for the mind.

The vastness of the cosmos and creation is just beyond imagination. This will be another major step in expanding our understanding of the cosmos around us. Flag for the post and my best,

Thank you

Awestruck....is the only word I have, and it still falls short.

a reply to: gortex

A stunning prelude of what is to come!

S&F for a pic beyond words.

a reply to: gortex

I can't wait for this thing to get cooking..

Absolutely stunning, and very interesting to follow going forward.

Thanks for sharing.

BT

Doesn't matter. Apparently we're the only planet that has life and God created us and only us.

Right?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: TinySickTears

Mind-boggling isn't it , the vastness is beyond comprehension and the possibilities endless , it's a playground for the mind.

And we still got folks who wonder if we're alone on our own little 1 planet around 1 star, in only 1 system, in 1 galaxy and 1 universe! "

"I wonder if aliens are real"? Some non-believers say. That nasa picture says it all. Astounding!!!!!

Those aren’t real. The flat earth community has proof that the sky is just a projection to earth. They’re about as real as the Easter bunny.




/s

a reply to: gortex

F*in rad gortex. I appreciate people like you who keep me aware of this kind of stuff

Isn't space wonderful enough to keep us occupied from killing each other? What more do we need than the awe inspiring views, concepts, dreams provided by space and technology?

originally posted by: Soulece
Doesn't matter. Apparently we're the only planet that has life and God created us and only us.

Right?

I'm not sure where you got that idea. What a strange comment...

originally posted by: mysterioustranger

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: TinySickTears

Mind-boggling isn't it , the vastness is beyond comprehension and the possibilities endless , it's a playground for the mind.

And we still got folks who wonder if we're alone on our own little 1 planet around 1 star, in only 1 system, in 1 galaxy and 1 universe! "

"I wonder if aliens are real"? Some non-believers say. That nasa picture says it all. Astounding!!!!!

Well, seeing a star is not the same as seeing/meeting life forms from another planet. It doesn't matter if it's a whole bunch of stars either. The same logic applies.

Logically, one must include the possibility we are alone in their stable of contending theories until we actually see undeniable evidence.

Of course, it would be silly to INSIST we are definitely alone. But it would be similarly silly to INSIST we are NOT alone just because "lots of stars!" If you had Other reasons besides "lots of stars", like you actually met an alien and they told you they were from another planet rather than beneath the Earth and you chose to believe them, then that would be different.

It doesn't mean you would be right, and in fact I think It is not very prudent to trust some one who has proven to be deceptive (without plausible explanations for it), but at least you would have Some other reason for Insisting we are not alone.

Just for the record, I do not think we are "alone", but I try not to ridicule those who think differently. I can put myself in someone else's shoes and see how they could come to either conclusion, or anything in between.

It's a wild, crazy, chaotic, disorderly world we live in. We barely got one foot out of the wilderness, and already stretching that foot into space...

originally posted by: Soulece
Doesn't matter. Apparently we're the only planet that has life and God created us and only us.

Right?

If God created us and only us why would he create such a vast Universe full of other Galaxies ,Stars and Planets , surely just one Galaxy would be more than enough to keep us amused.

originally posted by: Illumimasontruth
a reply to: gortex

A stunning prelude of what is to come!

S&F for a pic beyond words.

Indeed! That's an awe inspiring photo...and it's only a sliver of what's out there!
S&F

I think I have been reading to much Lovecraft as of late, because it immediately made me think of the Old Ones.

Beautiful picture and thank you for bringing the event to our notice.

originally posted by: 3n19m470

originally posted by: Soulece
Doesn't matter. Apparently we're the only planet that has life and God created us and only us.

Right?

I'm not sure where you got that idea. What a strange comment...

Didn't catch the sarcasm? Its a play on the fact people think our blue sphere is the only inhabitable place with life
It doesn't matter how many starts there are out there if none of them hold life. They would just be fillers in a space void.
Hope that clears it up.

originally posted by: Soulece
Didn't catch the sarcasm? Its a play on the fact people think our blue sphere is the only inhabitable place with life.

It's the only one we know of, until we know differently. If that ever happens.

originally posted by: Blue Shift

originally posted by: Soulece
Didn't catch the sarcasm? Its a play on the fact people think our blue sphere is the only inhabitable place with life.

It's the only one we know of, until we know differently. If that ever happens.

Exactly why I made that comment. Theres a picture showing so many stars, yet its actually only a small sample.

originally posted by: Soulece
Exactly why I made that comment. Theres a picture showing so many stars, yet its actually only a small sample.

Doesn't matter. If you have 10 billion boxes and find a marble in one of them, but have no idea how that marble got there, why would you assume that there are lots of marbles out there in other boxes? There are singular things, you know. There are flukes.

Until we know, we don't know. And even if we were able to find life on another planet that had nothing to do with us, all we could say for sure was that we know of only two planets with life on them. Until we find the third one, and so on.

Unless you have somehow figured out that life magically springs into existence once there are a certain number of planets. I don't see how you can connect those dots.