Ground based light curve follow-up validation observations of TESS object of interest TOI-5516.01

NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has opened new opportunities for the discovery of exoplanets by continuously monitoring bright dwarf stars for transit signatures. Candidates identified by TESS, known as TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs), require ground-based follow-up to distinguish genuine planets from false positives. In this work, we report on follow-up observations of TOI 5516.01 using the 0.8 m telescope at George Mason University. The objective was to verify whether a transit could be detected at the predicted location, time, and depth consistent with TESS observations. The data were processed and analyzed with AstroImageJ, incorporating reduction, plate solving, aperture and multi-aperture photometry, and nearby eclipsing binary checks to construct the light curve. The signal-to-noise ratio was insufficient to clearly distinguish a transit event from variability and noise in the data. As a result, the planetary status of TOI 5516.01 remains unresolved, and additional high-precision follow-up will be required.