Princeton University Thunch Talk

The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has begun to monitor the brightness of many stars. I will give an update on the current status of TESS, and discuss a recent search for timing anomalies in hot Jupiter systems. Oneobject surprised us: the hot Jupiter WASP-4b transited 81.6 ± 11.7 seconds earlier than expected, based on data stretching back to 2007. Its orbital period also appears to be shrinking, by 12.6 ± 1.2 milliseconds per year. The period change could be caused by tidal decay, apsidal precession, or the gravitational influence of a third body. Any of these possibilities would be interesting, for reasons that I will detail. One tenth of the TESS Prime Mission's data have been released, and the mission could be extended. In this light, I will close with some expectations for future explorations.