TRICERATOPS Archives - Astrobiology

Schematic of ground-based transit photometry observations of TOI–1752 system. The orbital phase coverage of TOI–1752.01 is shown in the top panel (nights of Mar 04, 2020, Apr 26, 2021, Apr 27, 2021, Jun 19, 2021, Sep 08, 2020, and Apr 21, 2024) and that of TOI–1752.02 in the bottom panel (nights of Feb 26, 2025, Jun 04, 2024, Mar 30, 2025, and Jul 06, 2025). The instrument/telescope used for the observation and the in-transit coverage percentage are shown in grey. The inclination 𝑖 is taken into account. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Press Release

A Gem System With A Lava World And A Habitable Zone Sub-Neptune Orbiting TOI-1752

by Keith CowingApril 21, 2026April 21, 2026

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has delivered a large number of transiting planet candidates around nearby stars by identifying periodic decreases in stellar brightness. A top-down view of the […]

Blue and red Shane/Kast optical spectrum of TOI-4616 (black line) compared to the best-fit M4 SDSS spectral template from Bochanski et al. (2007, magenta line). Key spectral features are indicated, including regions of strong telluric absorption (⊕). The inset box shows the 6520–6770 ˚𝐴 region encompassing the strong 6563 ˚𝐴 H𝛼 emission line and absent 6708 ˚𝐴 Li i absorption. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

TOI-4616 b: A Benchmark Earth-sized Planet Transiting A Nearby M4 Dwarf

by Keith CowingMarch 14, 2026March 14, 2026

Rocky exoplanets are particularly abundant around M-type stars. Their small radii and low luminosities provide favourable conditions for detecting transiting terrestrial planets and probing their atmospheric properties.

Phase-folded TESS light curve utilizing all 54 available sectors, binned to 5 minutes (blue points with error bars). The clear U-shape morphology and shallow depth (∼ 158 ppm) are consistent with a transiting planet. Note that the absence of secondary eclipses is further analyzed in Figure 3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Physical Vetting of the Ultra-Short-Period Sub-Earth TOI 864.01

by Keith CowingJanuary 9, 2026January 9, 2026

We present a comprehensive analysis of TOI 864.01, a transit-like signal associated with the M-dwarf TIC 231728511.

Phased-folded and 2-minute binned TESS light curve (left panel) and detrended Palomar/WIRC light curves (middle and right panels) for the two transit observations of TOI-2267 d. Residuals after the best-fit transit light curve model has been subtracted are shown in the lower panels. Unbinned data are shown as grey circles, with 10 minute binned points overplotted as black circles. The best joint-fit transit models are overplotted as blue lines for the TESS data and red lines for the Palomar data, with 100 random draws from the posterior distribution to illustrate the typical model uncertainty. All detrended light curves are available electronically as data behind the figure. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release

Validation Of A Third Earth-sized Planet In The TOI-2267 Binary System

by Keith CowingDecember 13, 2025December 13, 2025

We report the validation of a third terrestrial exoplanet in the nearby (22 pc) TOI-2267 system.

Ground-based light curves from LCOGT, KeplerCam, and MUSCAT2. The colored data points correspond to the binned data at 5 minute cadence. The solid black line is the median model from the posterior distribution. The solid blue curve is the median TESS light curve projected into the corresponding band. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Validation of TESS Planet Candidates with Multi-Color Transit Photometry and TRICERATOPS+

by Keith CowingAugust 8, 2025August 8, 2025

We present an upgraded version of TRICERATOPS, a software package designed to calculate false positive probabilities for planet candidates identified by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS).

Phase-folded light curves of newly validated planetary systems. Dark blue line shows the best-fit model, red dots are binned observations. Gray error bars in the background are data taken from TESS. -- astro-ph.EP

Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

VaTEST III: Validation Of 8 Potential Super-Earths From TESS Data

by Keith CowingNovember 2, 2023November 2, 2023

NASA’s all-sky survey mission, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is specifically designed to detect transiting exoplanets orbiting bright stars.