Following a novel, looping path that gives it an unobstructed view, the orbiting TESS will scan the sky for planets
around nearby bright stars.
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite is designed to spot planets orbiting nearby bright stars
But light
from nearby bright stars can drown out dimmer galaxies like the 72 new ones, none of which contain stars Hubble can see.
TESS is a NASA mission scheduled for launch in 2017, while PLATO is to be launched in 2024 by the European Space Agency; both will search for transiting terrestrial planets
around nearby bright stars.
On 16 April, the agency plans to launch the US$ 337 - million Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), which will scrutinize 200,000
nearby bright stars for signs of orbiting planets.
The craft will measure the sizes of known planets — from those a little bigger than Earth to ones that are roughly Neptune - sized —
orbiting nearby bright stars.
But the remarkably still air on Mount Wilson — the same climatic condition that keeps LA choked in smog — promises some of the world's sharpest images of the Sun,
nearby bright stars, and any planets found orbiting them.