Astronomers are studying the first batch of possible planets spotted by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) , which hunts for other worlds around nearby bright stars. The ‘TESS Objects of Interest’, released to other scientists for follow-up observations on 5 September, include dozens of planetary candidates.

TESS launched in April and began its science operations, which are expected to last for two years, in July. The satellite is currently searching for planets in the southern sky; the latest results come from the first slice of that survey. The spacecraft observed 15,900 stars every two minutes during this initial run, in search of the slight dimming caused when planets orbiting those stars cross their face, blocking a small percentage of the starlight.

TESS scientists released the list so that other astronomers could make an initial determination as to whether these candidates are planets. Some of the objects will undoubtedly turn out to be false alarms, while others will, if confirmed, join the ranks of true exoplanets.

“The exciting thing about TESS is that it’s an opportunity to meet the neighbours,” says Zachory Berta-Thompson, an astronomer at the University of Colorado Boulder. Some of the new worlds “may turn out to be the planets that we’ll study for decades or centuries to come”, he says.

TESS’s predecessor, the Kepler spacecraft , has discovered more than 5,300 planets or planetary candidates since its 2009 launch. Having far exceeded its initial mission of four years, it is running low on fuel and starting to have problems pointing at the sky.