WEBVTT FILE

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000
[Music throughout]TESS, the

2
00:00:07.020 --> 00:00:11.000
Transiting Survey Satellite, has completed its survey of the northern sky,

3
00:00:11.020 --> 00:00:15.000
marking the end of its primary mission. To do this,

4
00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:19.000
TESS divided the northern sky into 13 sectors, and its four cameras

5
00:00:19.020 --> 00:00:23.000
monitored each sector for nearly a month. With

6
00:00:23.020 --> 00:00:27.000
these extended views, TESS looks for slight dips in starlight when

7
00:00:27.020 --> 00:00:31.000
distant planets pass in front of their host stars. But it

8
00:00:31.020 --> 00:00:35.000
also caught short-lived events, such as a black hole tearing apart

9
00:00:35.020 --> 00:00:39.000
a star that wandered too close. It took a full year

10
00:00:39.020 --> 00:00:42.980
of TESS imagery to build this beautiful panorama of the northern

11
00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:46.980
sky. The bright band to the left is the Milky Way, our home

12
00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:50.980
galaxy viewed edge on. A large swath

13
00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:55.000
of the northern sky remains unmapped. For six sectors,

14
00:00:55.020 --> 00:00:59.000
TESS tipped its cameras further north to avoid regions where stray light from the Earth

15
00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:03.000
and the Moon would hamper the view. At the center

16
00:01:03.020 --> 00:01:06.980
is the continuous viewing zone. Here the view of one

17
00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:11.000
TESS camera overlaps across all 13 sectors,

18
00:01:11.020 --> 00:01:14.980
which means TESS monitored the region for nearly an entire year.

19
00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.000
At its center is the north ecliptic pole. This is

20
00:01:19.020 --> 00:01:22.980
where the imaginary axis of Earth’s orbit around the Sun meets the sky.

21
00:01:23.000 --> 00:01:26.980
More familiar to sky watchers is the north

22
00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.000
celestial pole. This where the north end of our planet’s spin axis

23
00:01:31.020 --> 00:01:35.000
intersects the sky. The whole starry vault appears

24
00:01:35.020 --> 00:01:39.000
to revolve around this point, conveniently marked by the nearby

25
00:01:39.020 --> 00:01:43.000
star Polaris. To find Polaris, follow a line

26
00:01:43.020 --> 00:01:47.000
set up by these two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper.

27
00:01:47.020 --> 00:01:51.000
It’s an easily recognized star pattern that forms the central part of the

28
00:01:51.020 --> 00:01:54.980
large constellation Ursa Major.

29
00:01:55.000 --> 00:01:58.980
Folloing the arc of the Big Dipper’s handle leads to another prominent star,

30
00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:02.980
Arcturus. Located about 37 light-years

31
00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000
away in the constellation Boötes, Arcturus is the fourth-brightest

32
00:02:07.020 --> 00:02:11.000
star in the night sky.

33
00:02:11.020 --> 00:02:15.000
New stars form in gas-rich clouds throughout our galaxy.

34
00:02:15.020 --> 00:02:19.000
The North America Nebula, named for its resemblance to the

35
00:02:19.020 --> 00:02:22.980
continent, is a prominent example. Located about

36
00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:27.000
1.700 light years-away in the constellation Cygnus. it's

37
00:02:27.020 --> 00:02:31.000
part of a vast factory complex with enough gas to make

38
00:02:31.020 --> 00:02:35.000
100.000 Sun-like stars.

39
00:02:35.020 --> 00:02:39.000
Peering beyond the confines of our own galaxy, TESS imaged

40
00:02:39.020 --> 00:02:43.000
the closest neighboring spiral galaxy. Visible by eye

41
00:02:43.020 --> 00:02:47.000
as a hazy patch, the Andromeda Galaxy, located

42
00:02:47.020 --> 00:02:51.000
2.5 million light years away. is a city of stars

43
00:02:51.020 --> 00:02:55.000
as vast as our own Milky Way.

44
00:02:55.020 --> 00:02:59.000
Astronomers have just begun sifting through the torrent of TESS data

45
00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:03.000
and are working to confirm planets among the thousands of candidates

46
00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:07.000
identified by the mission so far. TESS has already

47
00:03:07.020 --> 00:03:10.980
found a few northern stars hosting planets. One, named

48
00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:15.000
HD 191939, possesses a trio of Neptune-size

49
00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:19.000
worlds. Having successfully mapped about

50
00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:23.000
75% of the sky during its primary mission. TESS

51
00:03:23.020 --> 00:03:26.980
is now working on extended duty. Its cameras have turned back

52
00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:31.000
to the southern sky to complete another yearlong survey,

53
00:03:31.020 --> 00:03:35.000
which will include areas not mapped the first time around.

54
00:03:35.020 --> 00:03:39.000
Now improved to return even more data than before,

55
00:03:39.020 --> 00:03:43.000
the best of TESS is yet to come.

56
00:03:43.020 --> 00:03:47.000
[Music]

57
00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:51.000
[Music]

58
00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:55.000
Explore: solar system & beyond

59
00:03:55.020 --> 00:03:58.871
NASA