TESS, Spitzer Missions Discover a Unique Young World

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and retired Spitzer Space Telescope have found a young Neptune-size world orbiting AU Microscopii, a cool, nearby M-type red dwarf star surrounded by a vast disk of debris. The discovery makes the system a touchstone for understanding how stars and planets form and evolve.

Credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Watch this video on the NASA Goddard YouTube channel.

Music: "Web Of Intrigue" from Universal Production Music.

Complete transcript available.

Dos telescopios espaciales de la NASA, el Satélite de Sondeo de Exoplanetas en Tránsito (TESS, por sus siglas en inglés) y el recientemente retirado Telescopio Espacial Spitzer, han encontrado un mundo joven del tamaño de Neptuno que orbita AU Microscopii, una estrella enana fría cercana de tipo espectral M que está rodeada por un vasto disco de escombros. El descubrimiento hace del sistema un referente para nuestra comprensión de cómo se forman y evolucionan las estrellas y los planetas.

Crédito: Centro de Vuelo Espacial Goddard de la NASA.

Una transcripción completa está disponible.

Illustration depicting an approach to AU Mic, flying through its debris disk, and arriving at AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Illustration depicting one interpretation of AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Illustration depicting one interpretation of planet AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Illustration depicting AU Mic, an M-type red dwarf star at least 150 times younger than our Sun. The dark areas represent huge sunspot-like regions that helped complicate the search for planets.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Illustration depicting the AU Mic system.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

This movie illustrates AU Mic's complex light curve and how scientists filtered out the effects of flares and star spots to discover the transit of AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

High-resolution still illustrating one interpretation of planet AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Animated GIF illustrating one interpretation of planet AU Mic b.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Animated GIF illustrating one interpretation of planet AU Mic b and its host star. A version without graphics is included.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Animated GIF illustrating the AU Mic system.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)

Animated GIF illustrating how scientists filtered out the effects of the host star's flares and star spots to discover AU Mic b's transit.

Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center/Chris Smith (USRA)