A new study says NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is capable of detecting the mysterious Planet Nine and may have even already spotted it, scientists just need to sift through the data.
In the case of planet Nine, detecting its transit would be impossible, because it wouldn't pass between TESS and the sun. And a single exposure wouldn't reveal an object as faint as planet Nine.
However, the way TESS stares at sections of the sky for long duration's could be combined with an astronomy technique called digital tracking.
If you stack these images, faint objects can become much brighter, revealing objects that would otherwise be hidden.
In the case of planet Nine, detecting its transit would be impossible, because it wouldn't pass between TESS and the sun. And a single exposure wouldn't reveal an object as faint as planet Nine.
However, the way TESS stares at sections of the sky for long duration's could be combined with an astronomy technique called digital tracking.
If you stack these images, faint objects can become much brighter, revealing objects that would otherwise be hidden.