A Systematic Search for White Dwarf Exoplanets with TESS

Exoplanets are exotic companions to white dwarfs, but are hard to find due to having very faint hosts, short transit durations on the order of minutes, and low transit probabilities restricting transit detection to short-period orbits. Short-period white dwarf exoplanets are also expected to have been engulfed over their host’s evolution, or torn apart by tidal forces following inward migration. However, the TESS discovery of the giant, close-in transiting exoplanet WD 1856 b has invigorated a search for additional surprising survivors orbiting white dwarfs. We present an ongoing search for new transiting planets around white dwarfs using 200-second TESS Full Frame Images, and provide an early look at potential new planet candidates.