Ground-Based Light Curve Follow-Up Validation Observations of TESS Object of Interest 5516.01

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is used to identify potential exoplanets in a way that is generally faster and less expensive than sending out probes to a given planetary system. After TESS detected TOI-5516.01, follow-up data was collected by the 0.8m telescope at the GMU observatory. The follow-up data was then reduced, plate-solved, and analyzed using aperture photometry to generate a light curve, which was then further analyzed to locate the transit signal of TOI-5516.01. AstroImageJ (AIJ) is a software that was used for processing the data. Although the signal was relatively faint in comparison to the noise inherent to the data, it was ultimately located, albeit slightly outside of predicted parameters. Still, in the nearby eclipsing binary (NEB) search to determine if the planetary candidate was actually a planet, all results came back inconclusive and the transit signal was shown to appear on multiple stars. Fortunately, the signal bleeding over was attributed to the other stars being in close proximity to one another, as the signal was deepest in the target star’s curve. Due to the bleed, however, further and closer follow-ups are necessary to ensure that the candidate is not a NEB.