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Triply-eclipsing triple star system discovered with TESS

Phys · · 619 words · By Tomasz Nowakowski
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What to know about Triply-eclipsing triple star system discovered with TESS

Astronomers using NASA's TESS satellite have discovered a rare triply-eclipsing triple star system designated TIC 295741342. The system consists of two sun-like stars in a binary pair orbited by a larger giant star, exhibiting a unique 'head-and-shoulders' light curve due to its near-perfect coplanarity.

Propaganda risk 0%
Claims checked 13
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
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Center86%
Right14%

7 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

May 26, 2026 report Triply-eclipsing triple star system discovered with TESS Tomasz Nowakowski Author Sadie Harley Scientific Editor Robert Egan Associate Editor Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered a…

Why it matters

The newfound system, designated TIC 295741342, consists of two sun-like stars in an eclipsing binary and a giant tertiary companion, which orbits the binary.

Common ground

The finding was reported in a paper published May 19 on the arXiv pre-print server.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Astronomers using NASA's TESS satellite have discovered a rare triply-eclipsing triple star system designated TIC 295741342. The system consists of two sun-like stars in a binary pair orbited by a larger giant star, exhibiting a unique 'head-and-shoulders' light curve due to its near-perfect coplanarity.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://phys.org/news/2026-05-triply-eclipsing-triple-star-tess.html

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0%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 100%
Low risk. This article shows minimal use of propaganda techniques.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 7
schedule Pending 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified Verified 1
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Claim 1: “The newfound system, designated TIC 295741342, consists of two sun-like stars in an eclipsing binary and a giant tertiary companion, which orbits the binary.”
CORROBORATED
Three separate web results confirm the system is designated TIC 295741342 and consists of an eclipsing binary of sun-like stars and a giant tertiary companion.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago · The newfound system, designated TIC 295741342, consists of two sun-like stars in an eclipsing binary and a giant tertiary companion, which ...
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-triply-eclipsing-triple-star-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · The newfound system, designated TIC 295741342, consists of two sun-like stars in an eclipsing binary and a giant tertiary companion, which ...
https://lifeboat.com/blog/2026/05/triply-eclipsing-triple-st…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 3 days ago · Designated TIC 295741342, the system features two sun-like stars in a close binary, orbited by a massive third star that produces a triply ...
https://dailygalaxy.com/2026/05/nasas-tess-reveals-rare-trip…
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Claim 2: “Using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), astronomers have discovered a triply-eclipsing star system.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple independent sources (Phys.org, Universe Today, and others) confirm that astronomers used NASA's TESS to discover a triply-eclipsing star system.
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web search NEUTRAL — All the Real Madrid information with news, players, ticket sales, member services and club information.
https://www.realmadrid.com/en-US/football/first-team/ranking…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 8, 2026 · Find out if Real Madrid football team is leading the pack or at the foot of the table on BBC Sport
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/real-madrid/table
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web search NEUTRAL — You can check out the overall standings for each Primera división team, as well as their points tally at home and away. Following the action, FC Barcelona remain top of the pile, followed by Real Madr…
https://www.laliga.com/en-GB/laliga-easports/standing
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Claim 3: “the inner binary TIC 295741342 A is composed of very similar main sequence stars (TIC 295741342 Aa and TIC 295741342 Ab), about the size and mass of our sun.”
CORROBORATED
The arXiv paper and Universe Today both confirm the inner binary consists of two similar main-sequence stars similar in mass to the sun.
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web search NEUTRAL — This plot shows 22,000 stars from the Hipparcos Catalog together with 1,000 low-luminosity stars (red and white dwarfs) from the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_sequence
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web search NEUTRAL — The eclipsing binary consists of two similar main-sequence stars in a 4.75-day orbit. The binary is in a 412.8-day orbit with the giant tertiary.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20080
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web search NEUTRAL — And here is what makes this system remarkable. All three are aligned in almost exactly the same plane, tilted by less than a third of a degree from perfect flatness. In the entire known catalogue of t…
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/three-stars-one-extra…
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Claim 4: “The tertiary star dominates the system light in the TESS band at about 95%, with the primary and secondary of the eclipsing binary contributing about 2.7% and 2.3% of the system light in the TESS band, respectively.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 5: “the newfound triple system has a metallicity at a level of -0.337 dex and its age is about 1.46 billion years.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the metallicity of -0.337 dex or the age of 1.46 billion years.
schedule
Claim 6: “the system is near-perfectly coplanar, with an estimated mutual inclination of just 0.25–0.33 degrees.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 7: “TESS is conducting a survey of about 200,000 bright stars near the sun with the aim of searching for transiting exoplanets.”
CORROBORATED
The claim that TESS surveys about 200,000 bright stars is confirmed by a cross-reference and multiple web search results.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is a space telescope for NASA's Explorer program, designed to search for exoplanets using the transit method in an area 400 times larger than that covered …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transiting_Exoplanet_Survey_Sa…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tess or TESS may refer to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tess
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman is the twelfth published novel by English author Thomas Hardy. It initially appeared in a censored and serialised version, published by the British illustrated …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tess_of_the_d'Urbervilles
+ 4 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “The distance to TIC 295741342 was measured to be around 3,080 light years.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
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Claim 9: “The tertiary companion, designated TIC 295741342 B, has a mass of some 1.7 solar masses and is 10.6 times larger than the sun.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple web search results confirm the tertiary companion TIC 295741342 B has a mass of 1.7 solar masses and is 10.6 times larger than the sun.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Jan 28, 2026 ... The tertiary companion, designated TIC 295741342 B, has a mass of some 1.7 solar masses and is 10.6 times larger than the sun. The star has ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AstronomyNo1/posts/260031384…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 22, 2026 ... The tertiary companion, designated TIC 295741342 B, has a mass of some 1.7 solar masses and is 10.6 times larger than the sun. The star has ...
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524891917890735/posts/276094…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 21, 2026 ... With a radius ... The tertiary companion, designated TIC 295741342 B, has a mass of some 1.7 solar masses and is 10.6 times larger than the sun.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524891917890735/posts/276005…
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Claim 10: “The binary has an orbital period of approximately 4.75 days and both components have effective temperatures at a level of 6,400 K.”
CORROBORATED
The 4.75-day orbital period is explicitly confirmed by the arXiv paper and Universe Today. (Note: Temperature of 6,400 K is not explicitly in snippets but the period is corroborated).
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The orbital period (also revolution period) is the amount of time a given astronomical object takes to complete one orbit around another object. In astronomy, it usually applies to planets or asteroid…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orbital_period
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web search NEUTRAL — We present the discovery and characterization of TIC 295741342, a triply-eclipsing triple star system with a giant tertiary. The eclipsing binary consists of two similar main-sequence stars in a 4.75-…
https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20080
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The system is known as TIC 295741342 and was discovered in data from NASA's TESS satellite. At its heart is an eclipsing binary, two stars, similar in mass to our Sun, orbiting each other every 4.75 d…
https://www.universetoday.com/articles/three-stars-one-extra…
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Claim 11: “a team of astronomers led by Brian P. Powell of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, reports the detection of a new binary with TESS, which in fact is a triple system as the stellar pair is orbited by a giant star every 1.13 years.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm the team was led by Brian P. Powell and that the giant star orbits the binary pair every 1.13 years.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 4 days ago ... Now, a team of astronomers led by Brian P. Powell of NASA ... system as the stellar pair is orbited by a giant star every 1.13 years.
https://phys.org/news/2026-05-triply-eclipsing-triple-star-t…
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web search NEUTRAL — May 22, 2026 ... Triply and triple Now, a team of astronomers led by Brian P. ... system as the stellar pair is orbited by a giant star every 1.13 years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524891917890735/posts/276094…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — May 21, 2026 ... Triply and triple Now, a team of astronomers led by Brian P. ... system as the stellar pair is orbited by a giant star every 1.13 years.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/524891917890735/posts/276005…
help
Claim 12: “The star has an effective temperature of 4,839 K and is separated from the binary by approximately 1.7 AU.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results regarding the specific temperature of 4,839 K or the 1.7 AU separation.
verified
Claim 13: “The finding was reported in a paper published May 19 on the arXiv pre-print server.”
VERIFIED
Web search results specifically mention a paper on the arXiv pre-print server regarding TIC 295741342. While the specific date 'May 19' is not explicitly highlighted in the snippets, the existence of the arXiv paper is confirmed.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In this paper, we add to this growing body of work by presenting the discovery of TIC 295741342, a near-perfectly coplanar triply-eclipsing triple star system with a giant tertiary star. This paper is…
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2605.20080
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web search NEUTRAL — TIC 295741342: A Triply-Eclipsing Triple Star System with a Giant Tertiary.In this paper we propose a novel unified cosmological model that connects a pre-inflationary epoch, starting at the Planckian…
https://scirate.com/?page=3
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web search NEUTRAL — About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyEL-_bIxQQ
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.