TIC 229473505
An uncatalogued eclipsing-binary candidate from TESS.
Eclipsing-binary candidate: 11.1970-day period, a 0.03% primary eclipse, no significant secondary eclipse. Automated cross-checks question this period - see below.
TIC 229473505 is a candidate eclipsing binary star with an orbital period of 11.1970 days. Automated analysis of TESS photometry detected a primary eclipse causing a dimming of 0.03%, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 11.3 from the Box Least Squares search algorithm. Pixel-level image analysis confirmed the signal at the target location, though the centroid offset of 17.9 arcsec warrants consideration. No secondary eclipse was detected. The object does not appear in six major variable-star catalogs, making it a novel candidate. The machine-learning screening score of 0.79 suggests the pipeline's model favors this as a real target, and the candidate passed all data quality checks without flagging concerns.
- Surface brightness ratio
- companion faint - no secondary eclipse
- Companion temperature
- below ~4,597 K
- Companion / star radius
- ~0.08
- Face hidden at primary eclipse
- ~1%
- Separation
- ~23 x the star's radius
- Eccentricity
- consistent with circular
Zoomed: both stars drawn about 5x larger than their real size relative to the orbit, so they overlap for longer than the real eclipse lasts. A star's surface never gets dimmer during an eclipse - part of it is simply hidden. What drops is the total light we receive, shown exactly by the readout and bar below from the real light curve; the glow dims with it, exaggerated so small dips show. Colours follow temperature on a stellar colour scale, saturated so the differences show; the star's is its catalogue value (4,597 K). The companion's colour, sizes and orbit shape are estimates from the eclipse depths, duration and timing, assuming central eclipses and spherical stars - good to perhaps tens of percent. Only the relative orbit is shown; both stars really circle their common centre of mass. Animated about 40,309x faster than real on average, slowing down through each eclipse, and starting from where the system is in its orbit right now. Hover to pause.
- Primary2026-10-22 00:32 UTC
- Secondary2026-10-27 14:53 UTC
- Primary2026-11-02 05:15 UTC
Computed from the fitted ephemeris. Approximate - not corrected for your location or for light-travel time across Earth's orbit.
The signal
A repeating, consistent dip in brightness.
Residual scatter 0.115% (observed minus binned median).
Automated cross-checks question this period - see Caveats below.
- Period
- 11.19702 d
- Primary depth
- 0.03%
- Epoch (T0)
- 2835.122 BTJD
- Duration
- 4.08 h
The catalog check
Cross-matched against known variable-star catalogs to rule out anything already listed.
- VSXNot found
- ASAS-SNNot found
- Gaia eclipsing-binary tableNot found
- Gaia variable classificationNot found
- TESS EB catalog (Prsa+2022)Not found
- ExoFOP TOI listNot found
0/6 catalogs list a known variable at this position.
No known variable star or catalogued match at this position.
- Catalogs checked
- 6
- Matches
- 0
The pixel check
Confirms the dimming is on the target star, not a nearby source.
Out/in share one sqrt colour scale; in-eclipse = out-of-eclipse minus difference. TESS sector 79.
- 7.9
- 0.85 px18"
- -0.3825 phase
- TIC 18841571251.08 px, dT 7.4
- 0.66
- 79
The dimming is centred on the target star. No nearby contaminant detected.
- Centroid offset
- 0.85 px
- Difference SNR
- 7.9
- Capable neighbour
- TIC 1884157125
- TESS sector
- 79
The Gaia view
A second spacecraft's measurements: how far away the star is, how bright and what colour, and whether its position fits a single star.
The latest Gaia context file does not include this candidate yet, so there is no Gaia view to show.
The ground-survey check
An independent instrument, different years: does real ZTF photometry show the eclipse at the period TESS measured?
No ZTF observations at this position (declination 62.4 deg) - likely too far south for ZTF's footprint, which covers the sky north of roughly -31 deg. Not a mark against the candidate, just a gap in ground-survey coverage.
Fold it yourself
Adjust the period and watch the eclipse appear.
Shown at the true period. The raw light curve needed to re-fold at other periods has not been exported yet - this slider unlocks automatically once it is.
The period the pipeline measured. Drag the slider away from it and the eclipse smears out.
- True period
- 11.19702 d
- BLS period
- 11.19702 d
- Odd/even z
- 0.54
Caveats
Known limitations and things to check.
Cross-check:None of the 30 covered predicted eclipses reached 5 sigma on its own. The primary depth below is the whole-light-curve fold measurement from the vetting step, not a per-epoch one.
VIIIInstrument
Raw values, fits and technical details.
Instrument
Raw values, fits and technical details.
Full statistics
- 11.19702 d
- 11.19702 dsame
- 0.03% +/- 0.00%seen 0/30
- ML screening score
- 0.786logistic_regression
- < 0.04%none at 5 sigma
- 0.54< 3
- 0.3733 dpower 0.00
- 4.1 h
- Distance (TIC, Gaia-based)
- 1427 pc+/- 64
- 11.42 / 10.74
- 4597 K / 11.58 Rsun
- RA / Dec (J2000)
- 19h 41m 24.5s +62d 24m 58s
- 11.3 / 7.9
- 137,960 ptsover 811 d
Eclipse close-ups
Same flux scale on both panels. Line: binned median. Shown in place of an orbit animation - this pipeline measures eclipses, it does not fit an orbit.
Period alias analysis
Odd/even depth z = 0.54 (gate 3.0): alternate eclipses match, so the BLS period stands.