TIC 86880482
An uncatalogued eclipsing-binary candidate from TESS.
Eclipsing-binary candidate: 2.8284-day period, a 4.12% primary eclipse, no significant secondary eclipse.
TIC 86880482 is a candidate eclipsing binary star detected through automated analysis of TESS photometry. The star shows a primary eclipse with a depth of 3.59% and an orbital period of 2.8284 days, producing a strong signal-to-noise ratio of 150.1 in the periodogram analysis. Pixel-level imaging confirms the eclipse signal originates from the target location, with a difference-imaging peak signal-to-noise of 25.6, though the centroid offset of 8.5 arcsec warrants attention. No secondary eclipse was detected. The candidate does not appear in six major variable-star catalogs, making it a potentially new object. The pipeline's machine-learning classifier assigned a score of 0.54, indicating moderate confidence that this represents a real target. This candidate passed all data quality checks and merits further investigation.
- Surface brightness ratio
- companion faint - no secondary eclipse
- Companion temperature
- below ~2,917 K
- Companion / star radius
- ~0.20
- Face hidden at primary eclipse
- ~4%
- Separation
- ~6.4 x the star's radius
- Eccentricity
- consistent with circular
Zoomed: both stars drawn about 1x 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 (4,721 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 10,182x 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.
- Primary2026-10-19 19:15 UTC
- Secondary2026-10-21 05:12 UTC
- Primary2026-10-22 15:08 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 0.942% (observed minus binned median).
Clear, repeating eclipses with a consistent period and depth.
- Period
- 2.82837 d
- Primary depth
- 4.12%
- Epoch (T0)
- 1654.835 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 13.
- 25.6
- 0.40 px8"
- -0.0050 phase
- TIC 868804940.51 px, dT 2.5
- 0.76
- 13
The dimming is centred on the target star. No nearby contaminant detected.
- Centroid offset
- 0.40 px
- Difference SNR
- 25.6
- Capable neighbour
- TIC 86880494
- TESS sector
- 13
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 -45.3 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
- 2.82837 d
- BLS period
- 2.82837 d
- Odd/even z
- 0.23
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
- 2.82837 d
- 2.82837 dsame
- 4.12% +/- 0.08%seen 7/8
- ML screening score
- 0.544logistic_regression
- < 0.37%none at 5 sigma
- 0.23< 3
- 1.4127 dpower 0.09
- 4.1 h
- Distance (TIC, Gaia-based)
- 4464 pc+/- 566
- 13.89 / 13.18
- 4721 K / 12.32 Rsun
- RA / Dec (J2000)
- 18h 09m 33.6s -45d 19m 40s
- 150.1 / 25.6
- 1,177 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 = 0.23 (gate 3.0): alternate eclipses match, so the BLS period stands.
O - C timing
7 eclipses timed, rms 1.45 min, reduced chi-square 0.69 (5 dof): consistent with a constant period.
Each eclipse timed by fitting the star's own mean eclipse profile; fitted P = 2.828830 +/- 0.000217 d.