NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), launching April 16th, “could mark our first step toward discovering another planet outside of our solar system that harbors life,” writes Miriam Kramer for Mashable. "Planet finding never gets old," said Prof. Sara Seager. "I hope the public will joyfully share in discoveries."
Set to launch on April 16th, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), will be used to identify “planets that are close enough to Earth for astronomers to explore them in detail,” writes Alexandra Witze for Nature. “It’s not so much the numbers of planets that we care about, but the fact that they are orbiting nearby stars,” says Prof. Sara Seager, deputy science director for TESS.
Launching next month, the TESS satellite “is NASA's next mission in the search for exoplanets,”writes Ashley Strickland for CNN. “We expect TESS will discover a number of planets whose atmospheric compositions, which hold potential clues to the presence of life, could be precisely measured by future observers,” said George Ricker of the MIT Kavli Institute, who is a principal investigator on the mission.
Dennis Overbye of The New York Times speaks with Prof. Sara Seager and senior research scientist George Ricker about the future of the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS. The mission, led and operated by MIT, is preparing to orbit Earth for two years in search of other planets.
Research led by Dheeraj Pasham, a postdoc at MIT's Kavli Institute, provides evidence “that black holes feed on passing stars then eject energetic jet streams,” writes Laney Ruckstuhl for The Boston Globe. “Such black hole jet streams can have large implications for the galaxies they enter. Pasham said they can regulate the growth of a galaxy because of their energy levels."
Meghan Bartels of Newsweek discusses a discovery from the Kavli Institute of the first tidal disruption flare or “jet” that’s been produced due to a supermassive black hole consuming a star in space. “This is telling us the black hole feeding rate is controlling the strength of the jet it produces,” NASA Einstein Postdoc Fellow and lead researcher Dheeraj Pasham said.
Brooks Hays for UPI highlights research led by postdoc Dheeraj Pasham from MIT's Kavli Institute, that has captured the rare occurrence of “radio signals produced by a black hole devouring a star.” “This is the first time we've seen a jet that's controlled by a feeding supermassive black hole,” explained Pasham.
Mary Beth Griggs writes for Popular Science about a new Nature study where researchers have identified cold hydrogen dating back to 180 million years post-big bang. “Some of the radiation from the very first stars is starting to allow hydrogen to be seen,” says Alan Rogers of the Haystack Observatory.
Hydrogen detected via radio waves by MIT researchers indicates the presence of stars 180 million years after the Big Bang, reports Will Dunham of Reuters. The radio waves also indicate that the universe was likely twice as cold as was previously believe, which Research Affiliate Alan Rogers suggests “might be explained by interaction between the gas and dark matter.”
Alan Rogers of MIT's Haystack Observatory co-authored a study that identifies the earliest traces of hydrogen in the universe. The gas is “from 180 million years after the Big Bang,” writes Elise Takahama for The Boston Globe, which suggests that stars would have appeared around this time, creating a “cosmic dawn.”
Gizmodo reporter Ryan Mandelbaum writes that a new study co-authored by MIT researchers confirms Einstein’s theory that the sun is losing mass. Mandelbaum writes that, “seven years of data, combined with observations of how the Sun uses up its hydrogen fuel, reveal that the Sun is slowly, every so slightly, loosening its grasp on Mercury.”
A study co-authored by MIT researchers shows that as the sun loses mass its gravitational pull is becoming weaker, reports Kastalia Medrano for Newsweek. “The study demonstrates how making measurements of planetary orbit changes throughout the solar system opens the possibility of future discoveries about the nature of the sun and planets,” explains Maria Zuber, MIT’s vice president for research.
In an article for Physics Today, Prof. Anna Frebel details the formation of the heaviest elements. While scientists previously thought that supernova explosions were responsible for the creation of elements heavier than iron, Frebel notes that evidence from LIGO and from a faint galaxy known as Reticulum II suggest, “neutron-star mergers are the universe’s way to make elements such as gold and platinum.”
Boston Globe reporter Marin Finucane writes that with the help of around 10,000 citizen scientists, a team of astronomers has discovered five planets outside our solar system. “It’s exciting because we’re getting the public excited about science, and it’s really leveraging the power of the human cloud,” says Prof. Ian Crossfield of the discovery.
Daniel Michaels and Andy Pasztor of The Wall Street Journal highlight Prof. Dava Newman’s BioSuit in an article about upgrades and improvements in space suits. Regarding the skintight, flexible suit, Michaels and Pasztor write that Newman’s suit differs in that, “pressure comes not from gas but from tiny electrically activated coils embedded in fabric.”