DEVELOPMENT OF A PYTHON-BASED TOOL FOR STREAMLINED IDENTIFICATION OF EXOPLANET CANDIDATES

Authors

Eric Preston*, Kennesaw State University Department of Physics Marietta, GA 30360Follow
David Joffe, Kennesaw State University Department of Physics Marietta, GA 30360Follow

Abstract

The Viking_1_Exoplanet_Finder is a Python-based tool developed to accelerate the identification of exoplanet candidates within the TESS Input Catalog (TIC) using data hosted by the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST). Built on the lightkurve, pandas, numpy, and astroquery libraries, the latest version of the code significantly streamlines the data-access and analysis workflow. Earlier iterations required users to manually search the MAST catalog,download files locally, and import them for processing. The updated system bypasses these steps entirely by enabling direct remote navigation of TIC targets and their associated light-curve files. An integrated command-line menu further enhances usability by allowing researchers to revisit previously inspected targets and retrieve key stellar metadata directly from MAST. Together, these improvements greatly reduce manual overhead and increase the efficiency of exoplanet discovery within TESS data, enabling faster and more systematic identification of promising planetary candidates.

Recommended Citation

Preston*, Eric and Joffe, David (2026) "DEVELOPMENT OF A PYTHON-BASED TOOL FOR STREAMLINED IDENTIFICATION OF EXOPLANET CANDIDATES," Georgia Journal of Science, Vol. 84, No. 1, Article 92.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.gaacademy.org/gjs/vol84/iss1/92