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Title:
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)
Authors:
Ricker, George R.; Latham, D. W.; Vanderspek, R. K.; Ennico, K. A.; Bakos, G.; Brown, T. M.; Burgasser, A. J.; Charbonneau, D.; Deming, L. D.; Doty, J. P.; Dunham, E. W.; Elliot, J. L.; Holman, M. J.; Ida, S.; Jenkins, J. M.; Jernigan, J. G.; Kawai, N.; Laughlin, G. P.; Lissauer, J. J.; Martel, F.; Sasselov, D. D.; Schingler, R. H.; Seager, S.; Torres, G.; Udry, S.; Villasenor, J. S.; Winn, J. N.; Worden, S. P.
Affiliation:
AA(MIT), AB(CfA), AC(MIT), AD(NASA ARC), AE(CfA), AF(LCOGT), AG(MIT), AH(CfA), AI(NASA GSFC), AJ(Espace/MIT), AK(Lowell Observatory), AL(MIT), AM(CfA), AN(Tokyo Tech, Japan), AO(SETI Institute), AP(UC Berkeley), AQ(Tokyo Tech, Japan), AR(UC-Santa Cruz), AS(NASA ARC), AT(Espace/MIT), AU(CfA), AV(NASA ARC), AW(MIT), AX(CfA), AY(Geneva Observatory, Switzerland), AZ(MIT), BA(MIT), BB(NASA ARC)
Publication:
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #213, id.403.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.193
Publication Date:
01/2009
Origin:
AAS
Bibliographic Code:
2009AAS...21340301R

Abstract

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a low cost, SMEX-class planet finder. In a two year all-sky survey, TESS will observe more than two million bright, nearby stars, searching for temporary drops in brightness that are caused by planetary transits, which occur when a planet's orbit carries it directly in front of its parent star. Such transits not only provide the means of identifying the planet, but also provide knowledge of the planet's diameter, mass density, surface gravity, temperature, and other key properties.

TESS is expected to catalog more than 1000 transiting exoplanet candidates--20 times as many as are presently known, including a sample of 'super Earths'. The TESS "wide-shallow" survey will be complementary to the "narrow-deep" ones of the Corot and Kepler missions: its sky coverage will exceed that of Corot by 1000 times, and that of Kepler by 400 times. Because the TESS all-sky survey will systematically examine every interesting bright star likely to harbor an exoplanet, the resulting TESS Transit Catalog will constitute a unique scientific legacy. High resolution, follow-up ground-based optical and space-based IR spectroscopy of exoplanets demands bright targets. Thus, TESS should identify those new exoplanets that are ideal for study with the world's largest ground-based telescopes, as well as with NASA's upcoming James Webb Space Telescope.

The TESS mission is a collaborative effort led by researchers at MIT, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and the NASA Ames Research Center. Additional TESS partners include the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the Harvard Origins of Life Initiative, Lowell Observatory, Caltech's IPAC, the SETI Institute, Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, Tokyo Institute of Technology, SUPAERO in France, ATK Space, Espace Inc, and the Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network. TESS has been accepted for Phase A study by NASA, and is proposed for launch in late 2012.

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