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The Second Extended mission

TESS completed its prime mission in July of 2020 and then entered its first extended mission which completes in September, 2022.

A second extended mission is planned and will last approximately three years during which it will continue to scan the sky for exoplanets and transient events. Again this mission extension will be extensively community focused with a large Guest Investigator program running through Cycles 5, 6, and 7.

The Cycle 5 call for proposals was released on November 23rd, 2021.

Observing strategy

TESS Cycle 5 will observe fields in both the Northern and Southern Ecliptic Hemispheres and be collected during the first year of the second extended mission, from September 2022 until September 2023. It will cover sectors 56 through 69.

The pontings for Cycle 5 can be found in the table below which contains the details of TESS spacecraft orientation. Note: All future values are provisional and may be changed, although there are currently no plans to do so.

Cycle 5 Pointings

Sector Dates Spacecraft R.A and Dec Roll Angle: Camera 1 Roll Angle: Camera 2 Roll Angle: Camera 3 Roll Angle: Camera 4
56 2022 Sep 01 - 2022 Sep 30 324.2778, 46.3448, 36.2524 345.3641, 14.9584, 114.9946 333.0522, 36.2959, 120.4301 311.7635, 55.4305, 316.0082 266.0806, 65.8589, 356.4813
57 2022 Sep 30 - 2022 Oct 29 344.2275, 56.4121, 44.0100 11.2789, 26.1085, 115.3434 356.4707, 47.0635, 124.3509 325.1021, 63.839, 330.6667 267.3759, 65.2046, 23.5785
58 2022 Oct 29 - 2022 Nov 26 9.3118, 67.6524, 45.3615 40.5491, 36.2439, 109.6005 25.5780, 58.118, 120.8132 337.3171, 73.7866, 345.6879 269.2292, 64.8619, 50.4399
59 2022 Nov 26 - 2022 Dec 23 52.9755, 77.1746, 26.5121 73.7282, 42.2275, 97.6902 66.0846, 65.8454, 104.0137 344.0283, 84.2927, 4.8614 271.1888, 64.9027, 76.4900
60 2022 Dec 23 - 2023 Jan 18 125.6742, 77.3113, 337.3244 107.8987, 42.077, 83.4491 114.3984, 65.8, 78.0783 196.6100, 85.1352, 176.8993 272.8584, 65.2836, 101.6845
61 2023 Jan 18 - 2023 Feb 12 118.0446, -36.0902, 162.2198 128.3877, -1.3902, 255.7096 122.0484, -24.5948, 254.2533 112.6618, -47.4063, 68.6167 89.0633, -68.2569, 48.2313
62 2023 Feb 12 - 2023 Mar 10 135.2412, -42.2415, 151.5884 151.7028, -9.2726, 249.0895 141.9022, -31.4789, 245.6047 125.8972, -52.4618, 54.6812 87.1920, -67.9113, 20.4926
63 2023 Mar 10 - 2023 Apr 06 153.0613, -50.6996, 142.7405 175.2057, -19.2528, 246.0346 162.6187, -40.7012, 239.6145 138.6962, -59.5121, 40.9031 85.9728, -67.273, 353.0104
64 2023 Apr 06 - 2023 May 04 173.2653, -60.8650, 137.2810 200.6103, -29.7625, 247.6364 186.2919, -51.2622, 238.1410 150.9006, -68.2418, 26.9977 85.6613, -66.4778, 325.8518
65 2023 May 04 - 2023 Jun 02 201.6239, -71.5724, 140.7443 230.0361, -38.584, 255.1738 217.5212, -61.2946, 245.3889 161.5647, -78.2042, 11.9052 86.2923, -65.7004, 299.0834
66 2023 Jun 02 - 2023 Jul 01 259.1702, -78.7974, 173.9147 264.0456, -42.8477, 268.3903 262.3815, -66.8306, 266.9995 139.0865, -88.5404, 323.9549 87.6857, -65.1148, 272.8054
67 2023 Jul 01 - 2023 Jul 29 326.7691, -74.2796, 217.4678 298.6200, -40.7194, 282.5601 310.1548, -63.747, 291.8767 16.7557, -80.4949, 176.4545 89.5060, -64.8444, 247.1861
68 2023 Jul 29 - 2023 Aug 25 359.2829, -64.2357, 226.0975 328.7741, -33.4649, 292.0506 344.1780, -54.9092, 303.0107 26.1790, -70.6613, 161.0416 91.3676, -64.9258, 222.3524
69 2023 Aug 25 - 2023 Sep 20 20.0449, -54.2315, 222.7721 354.1707, -23.8425, 295.7196 8.5708, -44.7848, 304.0040 37.5409, -61.9896, 147.6933 92.9455, -65.3159, 198.1078

Table of Cycle 5 pointings. All positions and roll angles are given in degrees (J2000).

The location of the sectors is also shown in the figures below.





A depiction of the survey sectors for Cycle 5. Credit: Provided by TESS MIT.

Cycle 5 Highlights

The following data products will be available in Cycles 5.

  • 2-minute cadence data for a select number of targets.
  • 20-second cadence data for a select number of targets.
  • 200-second full frame images instead of 10-minute full frame images.

The 20-second cadence mode will be allotted to ~2,000 targets per sector, with ~8,000 2-minute target slots per sector.

In Cycle 5 Key-Project proposal categories will once again be available. These are programs will have a maximum duration of 36 months and as such cover Cycle 5 and 6+.

Ground-based observing focused programs are also solicited provided that they support the analysis and/or interpretation of TESS data. Up to $500K will be used to support ground-based programs.

In addition to joint Swift and Fermi programs, Cycle 5 (and beyond) will solicit a new NICER joint program.

As in the first extended mission, TESS will observe each sector continuously for two spacecraft orbits, ~27 days. Data are planned to be downloaded twice per orbit, approximately every 7 days.

For more information about proposing within the second extended mission please see the proposal page.