Seven Years of TESS Precovery Observations of the Dwarf-planet Candidate 2026 ED$_{138}$
The trans-Neptunian object 2026 ED$_{138}$ was announced in 2026 October as the first dwarf-planet candidate in our solar system discovered by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) observed it in five month-long sectors between 2019 and 2026, four of them before its discovery. We subtract every Gaia DR3 star from these crowded full-frame images with the TESS-Gaia Light Curve (TGLC) package, then remove static residuals with a running median. Stacking the images along its predicted path detects 2026 ED$_{138}$ in all five sectors at 5-21$σ$, and at 34$σ$ combined. The TESS positions alone confirm the JPL orbit, and its brightness is consistent with the 0.08 mag fading expected from its increasing distance and changing phase angle.
Authors
- Te Han (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7127-7643)
- George R. Ricker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2058-6662)
- Jeroen Audenaert (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4371-3460)
- Daniel Muthukrishna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5788-9280)
- Matthew Holman
Publication Details
- Journal
- arXiv (Cornell University)
- Published
- 2026-10-29
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.48550/arxiv.2610.40106
- Primary Topic
- Astro and Planetary Science
- Type
- preprint