NEMESIS II: Exoplanet Transit Survey of Nearby M-dwarfs in TESS FFIs

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has observed over 20 million stars brighter than TESS magnitude 13.5 using Full-Frame Images (FFIs). However, many M-dwarfs are fainter than TESS magnitude 13.5, and were only observed with 30-minute cadences, rather than 2-minute cadence observations. FFI transit surveys provide empirical insights into the types of planet detections that were missed due to TESS’ observing mode strategy for faint M-dwarfs. Using the NEMESIS pipeline, we analyze ∼191,000 FFI light curves from nearby M-dwarfs (<100 pc) in Sectors 1–26. To date, NEMESIS has detected over 3,200 Threshold Crossing Events (SNR > 10). Our analysis integrates both automated vetting tests and manual inspection to identify promising planet candidates. The detections of new planet candidates through this ongoing project will significantly enhance TESS’s ability to improve the statistical power of demographic studies concerning the types of exoplanets orbiting these low-mass stars.