Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We present the first determination of the occurrence of transiting circumbinary planets (CBPs) in TESS data. Since tight binaries represent a constrained environment relative to single stars, CBPs contribute to our understanding of planet formation and evolution. We applied our custom single-transit detection algorithm to the recently-published sample of TESS eclipsing binaries containing two M-dwarfs (M\&Ms), finding only one signal attributable to a new candidate planet-sized object. We further performed sensitivity analysis and applied corrections to account for the TESS window function to arrive at our survey completeness. We find a 95\% confidence level (CL) upper limit on the occurrence rate of coplanar CBPs with sizes in the range $2-16 R_\oplus$ and with orbital periods up to 600 days of 33.0\%. If the mutual inclinations of CBPs are isotropically distributed with respect to the binaries, the occurrence rate upper limit increases to 40.2\%. Our occurrence rate estimates are limited in part by the misalignment of our short-period binaries relative to the line of sight.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7222934064