The main goal of NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) program is to discover celestial objects that exhibit a change in brightness, including exoplanets, asteroids, and cataclysmic variable stars. By expanding the body of knowledge regarding exoplanets, we can gain new insights into how planetary systems are formed and the search for extraterrestrial life. We report on our analysis of an exoplanet candidate as part of the TESS Follow-up Observing Program (TFOP). Our target was selected from the TESS Transit Finder database and observed with the CHI-1 Planewave CDK24 telescope in Rio Hurtado Valley, Chile and the LCO-SAAO telescope in Sutherland, South Africa to complete two remote imaging observational studies. We used the computer software AstroImageJ to perform photometry. We analyzed a full transit in a Sloan r filter and detected an 18-part-per-thousand, on-time event. We performed photometry on the data from LCO-SAAO to check for chromaticity. We analyzed a full transit in a Sloan g filter and detected a 19 ppt on-time event. The light curves AstroImageJ synthesized match the criteria to confirm the event as an exoplanet transit and confirm a lack of significant chromaticity. As a result of our analyses, the target was reclassified from planet candidate (PC) to Verified Planet Candidate (VPC) and finally VPC+.
This research was made possible by the Union College Faculty Research Fund.