Precision Timing of Eclipsing Binaries from TESS Full Frame Images: Method and Performance

Abstract Several hundreds of thousands of eclipsing binaries (EBs) are expected to be detected in the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) full frame images (FFIs). This represents a significant increase in the number of EBs available for eclipse timing variation studies. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of performing precise eclipse timing of TESS EBs using the FFIs. To this end, we developed a fast, automated method and applied it to a sample of ∼100 EBs selected from the Villanova TESS EB catalog. Our timing analysis resulted in the detection of 10 new triple candidates with outer periods shorter than ∼1300 days. For five of them, we were able to constrain the outer orbit by analyzing independently the short-cadence (SC) and FFI data and to derive the minimum mass of the third body with a precision better than 4% for SC and 11% for FFI data. We then compared the results obtained from the two data sets and found that using the FFI data leads to (1) a degradation of both the accuracy and precision of the tertiary mass determination for the tightest EBs and (2) an overall underestimation of the third component’s mass. However, we stress that our main conclusions on the nature of the detected signals do not depend on which data set is used. This confirms the great potential of TESS FFIs, which will allow us to search for rare objects such as substellar circumbinary companions and compact triple stellar systems.