Last updated: 11/18/2022
What is QLP?
MIT’s Quick-Look Pipeline (QLP) at the TESS Science Office (TSO) processes data from TESS full-frame images (FFIs), from the raw FFIs to vetting reports for new TESS transiting planet candidates. QLP performs multi-aperture photometry to extract lightcurves for all targets captured in the FFIs brighter than TESS magnitude T = 13.5 mag. Once the data from each TESS sector is obtained, the pipeline combines all available data for each observed target and performs a multi-sector search for transiting exoplanets. Our team compiles reports for the most promising candidates, which are then delivered to vetters at the TSO as part of the TOI alert process.
For a full description of the QLP lightcurve extraction procedure, see Huang et al. (2020). All QLP single-sector lightcurves are publicly available for targets observed over the TESS Primary Mission (Sectors 1 – 26) in the form of High Level Science Products (HLSPs) on the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) here. The second data release consists of light curves from the first year of the first Extended Mission (Sectors 27-39), with data release notes available here. The third data release consists of light curves from the second year of the first Extended Mission (Sectors 40-55), described here. Targets from the second Extended Mission (Sectors 56+) are expected to start releasing in late 2022.