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 2026 January 15 and 22 (Sector 1751), capturing high-cadence observations at 200 and 20 s cadence. We present two High Level Science Products: (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. 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.