TESSELLATE: Piecing Together the Variable Sky With TESS

Abstract

We present TESSELLATE, a dedicated pipeline for performing an untargeted search documenting all variable phenomena captured by the TESS space telescope. Building on the TESSreduce difference imaging pipeline, TESSELLATE extracts calibrated and reduced photometric data for every full frame image in the TESS archive. Using this data, we systematically identify transient, variable and non-sidereal signals across timescales ranging from minutes to weeks. The high cadence and wide field of view of TESS enables us to conduct a comprehensive search of the entire sky to a depth of ~17 mi. Based on the volumetric rates for known fast transients, we expect there to be numerous Fast Blue Optical Transients and Gamma Ray Burst afterglows present in the existing TESS dataset. Beyond transients, TESSELLATE can also identify new variable stars and exoplanet candidates, and recover known asteroids. We classify events using machine learning techniques and the work of citizen scientists via the Zooniverse Cosmic Cataclysms project. Finally, we introduce the TESSELLATE Sky Survey: a complete, open catalog of the variable sky observed by TESS.