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Is it Possible to Observe Megastructures with TESS?
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  • Piper Stacey,
  • Howard Isaacson,
  • Ann Marie Cody,
  • Steve Croft,
  • Doug Caldwell,
  • Marvin Morgan,
  • Brian Powell
Piper Stacey
Dartmouth College

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Howard Isaacson
University of California, Berkeley
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Ann Marie Cody
SETI Institute
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Steve Croft
University of California, Berkeley
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Doug Caldwell
SETI Institute
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Marvin Morgan
University of Pennsylvania
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Brian Powell
SETI Institute
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Abstract

We present the quantifiable limits of observation of artificial megastructures within TESS data. We characterize observability using a ratio of the in-transit RMS residuals and the out-of-transit RMS residuals. We measure a percent difference in circularity (a non-circularity index) by summing the artificial object’s pixels that do not fall within the pixel area of the planet. We have determined an observability threshold using our observability index to be O = 3. At this threshold, given simulated standard TESS noise (gaussian with a zero mean and standard deviation dependent upon the individual star’s TESS magnitude), we quantity the non-circularity of an artificial object in order to be observable.