A homogeneous transit-timing-variation investigation of all TESS systems with a confirmed single-transiting planet
Context . Transit-timing variations (TTVs) are a powerful tool for detecting unseen companions in systems with known transiting exoplanets and for characterising their masses and orbital properties. Large-scale and homogeneous TTV analyses represent a valuable method to complement the demographics of planetary systems and understand the role of dynamical interactions. Aims . We present the results of a systematic TTV analysis of 423 systems covering ∼16000 transits, each with a single transiting planet first discovered by the NASA TESS mission and then confirmed or validated by follow-up studies. The primary aim of this survey is to identify the most promising candidates for dynamically active systems that warrant further investigation. Methods . Our analysis was performed in a two-stage pipeline. In the first stage, precise measurements of individual transit times are extracted from the TESS light curves for each system in a homogeneous way. In the second stage, we applied a two-tiered decision framework to classify candidates by analysing the resulting transit variations. Based on excess timing scatter ( χ mod 2 ) and the difference in Bayesian information criterion (ΔBIC) of periodic models over linear ones, the TTVs were classified as significant, marginal, or non-detections. Results . We find 11 systems with significant TTVs, five of which were announced in previous works, and ten more systems with marginal evidence in our sample. We present three-panel diagnostic plots for all the candidates, showing phase-folded light curves, the transit variations over time, and the same variations folded on the recovered TTV period. A comprehensive summary table detailing the fitted parameters and TTV significance for the entire survey sample is also provided. Conclusions . This survey constitutes the largest homogeneous TTV analysis of TESS systems to date. We provide the community with updated ephemerides and a catalogue of high-quality TTV candidates, enabling targeted follow-up observations and detailed dynamical modelling to uncover the nature of unseen companions and study system architectures.
Authors
- Luca Naponiello (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9390-0988)
Institutions
- Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino (IT)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202557512
- Primary Topic
- Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00