Variability Catalog of Stars Observed During the TESS Prime Mission

Kavli Affiliate: Roland Vanderspek

| First 5 Authors: Tara Fetherolf, Joshua Pepper, Emilie Simpson, Stephen R. Kane, Teo Mocnik

| Summary:

During its 2-year Prime Mission, TESS observed over 232,000 stars at a 2-min
cadence across ~70% of the sky. These data provide a record of photometric
variability across a range of astrophysically interesting time scales, probing
stellar rotation, eclipsing binary systems, and pulsations. We have analyzed
the TESS 2-min light curves to identify periodic variability on timescales
0.01-13 days, and explored the results across various stellar properties. We
have identified over 40,000 periodic variables with high confidence, and
another 50,000 with moderate confidence. These light curves show differences in
variability type across the HR diagram, with distinct groupings of rotational,
eclipsing, and pulsational variables. We also see interesting patterns across
period-luminosity space, with clear correlations between period and luminosity
for high-mass pulsators, evolved stars, and contact binary systems, a
discontinuity corresponding to the Kraft break, and a lower occurrence of
periodic variability in main-sequence stars at a timescale of 1.5 to 2 days.

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