TIC 46208125
An uncatalogued eclipsing-binary candidate from TESS.
Eclipsing-binary candidate: 5.1879-day period, a 5.10% primary eclipse, a 1.44% secondary eclipse at phase 0.502.
TIC 46208125 is a candidate eclipsing binary star with an orbital period of 5.1879 days. Analysis of TESS photometry reveals a primary eclipse causing 4.09% dimming and a secondary eclipse detected at 6.4 sigma significance. The binary lens effect shows a strong signal-to-noise ratio of 165.5 using the Box Least Squares method. Pixel-level difference imaging confirms the signal's authenticity with a peak signal-to-noise of 23.7, though the centroid offset measures 3.4 arcsec from the target star. This candidate does not appear in six major variable-star catalogs, making it a novel find. The automated pipeline's machine learning model assigned it a screening score of 0.40, and the candidate passed all data quality checks without any flagged concerns.
- Surface brightness ratio
- 0.28
- Companion / star radius
- ~0.23
- Face hidden at primary eclipse
- ~5%
- Separation
- ~12 x the star's radius
- Eccentricity
- consistent with circular
- Secondary eclipse phase
- 0.502 measured, 0.500 in this orbit
Zoomed: both stars drawn about 2x 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 are illustrative. 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 18,676x 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.
- Secondary2026-10-20 05:09 UTC
- Primary2026-10-22 19:06 UTC
- Secondary2026-10-25 09:40 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 0.229% (observed minus binned median).
Clear, repeating eclipses with a consistent period and depth.
- Period
- 5.18791 d
- Primary depth
- 5.10%
- Secondary depth
- 1.44%
- Epoch (T0)
- 1628.205 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 12.
- 23.7
- 0.16 px3"
- 0.0000 phase
- TIC 462081470.50 px, dT 2.7
- 0.99
- 12
The dimming is centred on the target star. No nearby contaminant detected.
- Centroid offset
- 0.16 px
- Difference SNR
- 23.7
- Capable neighbour
- TIC 46208147
- TESS sector
- 12
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?
The latest ground-survey file does not include this candidate yet, so there is no independent ZTF check to show.
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
- 5.18791 d
- BLS period
- 5.18791 d
- Odd/even z
- 0.51
Caveats
Known limitations and things to check.
No caveats flagged: this candidate cleared every gate with no named exception. Follow-up observations would still be needed to confirm the stellar parameters.
VIIIInstrument
Raw values, fits and technical details.
Instrument
Raw values, fits and technical details.
Full statistics
- 5.18791 d
- 5.18791 dsame
- 5.10% +/- 0.12%seen 3/3
- ML screening score
- 0.396logistic_regression
- 1.44% +/- 0.04%phase 0.502, 36 sigma
- 0.51< 3
- 1.3035 dpower 0.09
- 4.1 h
- Distance (TIC, Gaia-based)
- 2634 pc+/- 936
- 14.71 / 14.17
- - / -
- RA / Dec (J2000)
- 15h 21m 52.3s -55d 33m 21s
- 165.5 / 23.7
- 1,086 ptsover 28 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 = 0.51 (gate 3.0): alternate eclipses match, so the BLS period stands.
O - C timing
3 eclipses timed, rms 1.44 min, reduced chi-square 1.63 (1 dof): consistent with a constant period.
Each eclipse timed by fitting the star's own mean eclipse profile; fitted P = 5.186251 +/- 0.000488 d.