<p>It could be an exoplanet transit (but that doesn't mean it is).</p>
<p>The star in question, TIC92352620, is an F8 main sequence star, which would be much larger than any plausible planet. If a planet transits in front of such a star, you expect a very rapid entry and exit to the eclipse with a flattish bottom, where any curvature can be attributed to limb darkening on the host star. The transit should repeat and look the same each time.</p>
<p>I'd say your potential transit passes that test, so it could be a Jupiter-sized planet on a 4-day orbit.</p>
<p>Even then, there are false positives that can produce similar results (e.g. the presence of a contribution of light from an eclipsing binary star that encroaches within the point spread function of the instrument - i.e. an unrelated star contaminating the data).</p>
<p>As to where you go from here, well, the discovery of an unremarkable transiting exoplanet is of interest, but not really headline news any more. A significant amount of work would remain to confirm the candidate and rule out possible false positives. At the least, because this is a bright star, one should obtain spectroscopy that shows any radial velocity deviations are very small, commensurate with a planetary nature for the companion.</p>
<p>Some information on eliminating (some) false positives in TESS data <a href="https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/talk/4733/2174551" rel="noreferrer">https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/talk/4733/2174551</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T11:10:39.210Z
I am very skeptical about this being a exoplanet, an asteroid might be the cause
Arcturus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T11:35:43.770Z
umm
just to tell 
i have folded this plot using the periodogram to get this single dip
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T11:45:05.273Z
@ParamKasana I see. Why is the x-axis labelled as phase, but has units of days?? Anyway, how many transits do you have and do they individually look the same?
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T12:15:33.233Z
sorry, I forgot to change the x-axis label in the resultant plot.
Yes individual transit dips look same
i will add the plot which is not folded in the post
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T14:04:55.097Z
@ProfRob can u provide some helpful resources to do further analysis (removing false positives, spectroscopy, and radial velocity) 
i really wanna continue this 
:)
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T15:23:08.377Z
One thing you can do is confirm there is no shift in the position of the source during the transit. @ParamKasana
ProfRob
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T16:34:19.150Z
@ProfRob can u tell how to ? just a little
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T10:39:46.350Z
@ParamKasana actually sorry for being skeptical about this claim, there wasn't much information so I couldn't know.
Arcturus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T14:24:28.773Z
@FuriousNukefrostArcturus np
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T10:49:59.143Z
2022-10-09T16:51:52.017Z
2022-10-09T16:51:52.017Z
ProfRob
<p>Really hard to answer, a light-dip doesn't necessarily mean that you actually discovered a exoplanet. There can be multiple reasons to why this was not classified yet.</p>
<p>Asteroid belts can be a reason, multiple  large asteroids can cause significant dimming, by obscuring the star's light.</p>
<p>Exoplanets are found by running multiple analyzing processes, such as &quot;wobbling&quot; which means that even a small planet can cause a tiny, yet detectable tug on the star. A light-dip is hardly substantial evidence and can be easily taken for a asteroid belt.</p>
<p>As to what you should do with this discovery (in the unlikely case that you found a exoplanet(, I am afraid that is really hard to understand, as there are really few amateur astronomers who have made a significant discovery. Best bet would be to share the discovery on SIMBAD or some Astronomy catalog.</p>
<p>EDIT: After more information, this sounds more like a Hot Jupiter.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T19:10:04.050Z
_Multiple large asteroids_? How on earth would that give you such a light curve?
TonyK
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T10:45:02.530Z
@TonyK asteroids are theorized to produce more intense dimmings in Tabbys Star
Arcturus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T11:52:17.903Z
Look at the light curves in [this Wikipedia article on Tabby's star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby%27s_Star#Light_curve_gallery). None of them has the near-vertical sides and wide bottom of the OP's observations.
TonyK
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T08:54:53.313Z
2022-10-11T10:35:41.593Z
2022-10-11T10:35:41.593Z
Arcturus
<p>Yesterday I was going through the TESS mission data on mast portal and after applying some filters I found some data. I started analyzing that data using the <a href="https://docs.lightkurve.org/" rel="noreferrer">lightkurve</a> library.</p>
<p>plot without using the periodogram script:
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/erzT0.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/erzT0.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Running all the scripts I found this plot:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/tDU0J.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/tDU0J.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Then I searched after this star system on the <em><a href="https://exo.mast.stsci.edu/" rel="noreferrer">exomast</a></em> archive portal just to check that this system wasn't analyzed earlier by researchers and I am not wasting my time.
The portal didn't show any results which means that TESS researchers haven't studied this one yet and was not confirmed as an exoplanet.</p>
<p>Does this mean that I found it?</p>
<p>And what should I do now with this?</p>
<p>If this was already known I have no problem, this was fun to analyze.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T12:55:34.527Z
After your updated question, this looks like a Hot (~4 days period) Jupiter (~1% transit depth around an F8 main sequence), but confirmation of a planetary mass companion would need a lot more work, as ProfRob has elucidated.
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T12:58:18.057Z
@AtmosphericPrisonEscape Ohh ok 
So what should i do next ?
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T13:12:28.930Z
As said in the answer below - you need to exclude false positives (such as eclipsing binaries, background objects) and find radial velocity data that fits the same period and has a mass commensurable with the rough expected mass of a planetary object. Those things are much harder to do though, and specialist pipelines are used for those. I am no expert in those things though.
AtmosphericPrisonEscape
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-09T13:14:37.033Z
@AtmosphericPrisonEscape then how should I do this ?
pls can u share some resources at least
Param Kasana
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-10T14:33:42.223Z
Frankly, if you don't know... maybe your best bet is to find an astrophysicist who's interested in helping do the next steps?
Joe
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T12:25:48.020Z
If you want to look into it further, you might want to reach out to the AAVSO, they are a "citizen science" organization connecting armature astronomer findings with professionals. https://www.aavso.org/exoplanet-section
Greg Miller
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-10-11T14:18:10.450Z
Thanks 
I really appreciate this
Param Kasana
<observational-astronomy><astrophysics><amateur-observing><exoplanet><tess>
Do these results mean that I have found this exoplanet?
Param Kasana
# Do these results mean that I have found this exoplanet?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-10-09)

Yesterday I was going through the TESS mission data on mast portal and after applying some filters I found some data. I started analyzing that data using the [lightkurve](https://docs.lightkurve.org/) library.

plot without using the periodogram script:
[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/erzT0.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/erzT0.png)

Running all the scripts I found this plot:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/tDU0J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/tDU0J.png)

Then I searched after this star system on the *[exomast](https://exo.mast.stsci.edu/)* archive portal just to check that this system wasn't analyzed earlier by researchers and I am not wasting my time.
The portal didn't show any results which means that TESS researchers haven't studied this one yet and was not confirmed as an exoplanet.

Does this mean that I found it?

And what should I do now with this?

If this was already known I have no problem, this was fun to analyze.

**Tags:** observational-astronomy, astrophysics, amateur-observing, exoplanet, tess
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: After your updated question, this looks like a Hot (~4 days period) Jupiter (~1% transit depth around an F8 main sequence), but confirmation of a planetary mass companion would need a lot more work, as ProfRob has elucidated.  
> **username_0**: @AtmosphericPrisonEscape Ohh ok  So what should i do next ?  
> **username_1**: As said in the answer below - you need to exclude false positives (such as eclipsing binaries, background objects) and find radial velocity data that fits the same period and has a mass commensurable with the rough expected mass of a planetary object. Those things are much harder to do though, and specialist pipelines are used for those. I am no expert in those things though.  
> **username_0**: @AtmosphericPrisonEscape then how should I do this ? pls can u share some resources at least  
> **username_2**: Frankly, if you don't know... maybe your best bet is to find an astrophysicist who's interested in helping do the next steps?  
> **username_3**: If you want to look into it further, you might want to reach out to the AAVSO, they are a "citizen science" organization connecting armature astronomer findings with professionals. https://www.aavso.org/exoplanet-section  
> **username_0**: Thanks  I really appreciate this  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2022-10-09. Score: 23

It could be an exoplanet transit (but that doesn't mean it is).

The star in question, TIC92352620, is an F8 main sequence star, which would be much larger than any plausible planet. If a planet transits in front of such a star, you expect a very rapid entry and exit to the eclipse with a flattish bottom, where any curvature can be attributed to limb darkening on the host star. The transit should repeat and look the same each time.

I'd say your potential transit passes that test, so it could be a Jupiter-sized planet on a 4-day orbit.

Even then, there are false positives that can produce similar results (e.g. the presence of a contribution of light from an eclipsing binary star that encroaches within the point spread function of the instrument - i.e. an unrelated star contaminating the data).

As to where you go from here, well, the discovery of an unremarkable transiting exoplanet is of interest, but not really headline news any more. A significant amount of work would remain to confirm the candidate and rule out possible false positives. At the least, because this is a bright star, one should obtain spectroscopy that shows any radial velocity deviations are very small, commensurate with a planetary nature for the companion.

Some information on eliminating (some) false positives in TESS data <https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/nora-dot-eisner/planet-hunters-tess/talk/4733/2174551>

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: I am very skeptical about this being a exoplanet, an asteroid might be the cause  
> **username_0**: umm just to tell  i have folded this plot using the periodogram to get this single dip  
> **username_4**: @ParamKasana I see. Why is the x-axis labelled as phase, but has units of days?? Anyway, how many transits do you have and do they individually look the same?  
> **username_0**: sorry, I forgot to change the x-axis label in the resultant plot. Yes individual transit dips look same i will add the plot which is not folded in the post  
> **username_0**: @ProfRob can u provide some helpful resources to do further analysis (removing false positives, spectroscopy, and radial velocity)  i really wanna continue this  :)  
> **username_4**: One thing you can do is confirm there is no shift in the position of the source during the transit. @ParamKasana  
> **username_0**: @ProfRob can u tell how to ? just a little  
> **username_5**: @ParamKasana actually sorry for being skeptical about this claim, there wasn't much information so I couldn't know.  
> **username_0**: @FuriousNukefrostArcturus np  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2022-10-09. Score: 8

Really hard to answer, a light-dip doesn't necessarily mean that you actually discovered a exoplanet. There can be multiple reasons to why this was not classified yet.

Asteroid belts can be a reason, multiple large asteroids can cause significant dimming, by obscuring the star's light.

Exoplanets are found by running multiple analyzing processes, such as "wobbling" which means that even a small planet can cause a tiny, yet detectable tug on the star. A light-dip is hardly substantial evidence and can be easily taken for a asteroid belt.

As to what you should do with this discovery (in the unlikely case that you found a exoplanet(, I am afraid that is really hard to understand, as there are really few amateur astronomers who have made a significant discovery. Best bet would be to share the discovery on SIMBAD or some Astronomy catalog.

EDIT: After more information, this sounds more like a Hot Jupiter.

> **Comments:**
> **username_6**: _Multiple large asteroids_? How on earth would that give you such a light curve?  
> **username_5**: @TonyK asteroids are theorized to produce more intense dimmings in Tabbys Star  
> **username_6**: Look at the light curves in [this Wikipedia article on Tabby's star](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby%27s_Star#Light_curve_gallery). None of them has the near-vertical sides and wide bottom of the OP's observations.  

---

