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TSSC comet-centered data products from TESS 3I/ATLAS observations

Jorge Martinez-Palomera, Amy Tuson, TESS Science Support Center

Abstract

3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to pass through our Solar System. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) made dedicated observations of 3I/ATLAS between 15 -- 22 January 2026 (Sector 1751), capturing high-cadence observations at 200s and 20s cadence. We present two High Level Science Products (HLSPs): (1) comet-centered image time series, corrected for background scattered light and stars; and (2) aperture light curves extracted from the corrected images. We created these data products using the official TESS products and they are publicly available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). TESS's high-precision, near-continuous photometry will provide unique insights into the comet's activity following its closest approach to the Sun. The TESS Science Support Center (TSSC) has created these data products to facilitate scientific analyses by the TESS and Solar System communities.

TSSC comet-centered data products from TESS 3I/ATLAS observations

Abstract

3I/ATLAS is the third known interstellar object to pass through our Solar System. NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) made dedicated observations of 3I/ATLAS between 15 -- 22 January 2026 (Sector 1751), capturing high-cadence observations at 200s and 20s cadence. We present two High Level Science Products (HLSPs): (1) comet-centered image time series, corrected for background scattered light and stars; and (2) aperture light curves extracted from the corrected images. We created these data products using the official TESS products and they are publicly available at the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). TESS's high-precision, near-continuous photometry will provide unique insights into the comet's activity following its closest approach to the Sun. The TESS Science Support Center (TSSC) has created these data products to facilitate scientific analyses by the TESS and Solar System communities.
Paper Structure (4 sections, 1 figure)

This paper contains 4 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Comet-centered Image Time Series
  3. Light Curves
  4. Data Availability

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Left: median-stack image generated from the background-corrected data and frames with SPOC quality flag zero. Right: extracted light curves from a core small aperture (green), core large aperture (blue), and total aperture (orange). We highlight frames where the comet passes over background stars (grey) and frames with background model edge effect caused by the comet's tail (red). An animation of the comet-centered and background-corrected image time series is available in the online Journal.