The TESS Project has allocated a number of two-minute and 20-second cadence targets for programs that fall outside of the Guest Investigator program. Proposals for these Director’s Discretionary Targets (DDT) can be submitted at any time, using the process described below. Proposal submission should generally occur at least six weeks before the beginning of the sector the targets are to be observed in. Later submission of a DDT proposal, up to two weeks before sector start, is possible under certain circumstances: please note these circumstances in the DDT proposal.
Up to 500 DDT targets per sector will be allocated for 2-minute data targets and 200 DDT targets are allocated for 20s data.
DDT proposals do not automatically renew and must be re-proposed every year.
The list of active DDTs can be found at the bottom of this page. The full list of DDT proposals, including target lists, can be found here (the entries in boldface are currently active; the rest have expired).
Approval process:
Targets reviewed by the TESS PI, a science expert selected by the TESS PI, and the TESS operations team.
All targets will be checked to confirm that they are observable (i.e. imaged onto a CCD). Proposers will be notified of those that will not be imaged onto a CCD. Proposers are strongly advised to check their targets before submission using the tess-point tool: either download from https://github.com/tessgi/tess-point or use the web tool at https://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/wsgi-scripts/TESS/TESS-point_Web_Tool/TESS-point_Web_Tool/wtv_v2.0.py/
Principal requester will be notified via e-mail and approved targets will be posted here, along with the expected time(s) of observation. There is no proprietary period for approved DDT observations.
Data from a DDT observation will be delivered to the TESS archives concurrently with the non-DDT data from the sector in which the DDT is observed
Instructions for submitting a DDT proposal:
Download and complete the templates below for the proposal and target list.
Proposals must be submitted six weeks before the start of sector (check sector calendar here).
Prioritize targets from 0.0 (lowest) to 1.0 (highest)
Keywords can include target name and any other relevant identifiers. No limits on the number of keywords. The DDT program number will be added to the keywords by the POC.
Submit template to tess-ddt at mit dot edu six weeks before start of sector. A DDT ID will be assigned to each proposal by the review team.
DDT proposal templates
Please contact the TESS Science Office with any questions at tess-ddt at mit dot edu.
| DDT | PI | Subject | Cadence | # Targets | Active? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Pavel Rabtsevich | Two-minute cadence for TIC 4206066, a nearby K-dwarf with a 1.4R planet candidate | 2m | 1 | yes |
| 099 | Rahul Jayaraman | Monitoring for LFBOT Flaring | 20s | 3 | yes |
| 098 | E. Chickles | Resolving the phase-localised ~7-min X-ray/optical reverberation lag in Cygnus X-1 | 20s | 1 | yes |
| 097 | Kovalev Mikhail | DDT proposal for 20 s cadence observations of pulsations in TV Mon. | 20s | 1 | yes |
| 087 | Daniel Huber | HWO Tier 1 and 2 targets | 20s | 659 | yes |
| 096 | Bisi Bernard Ogunwale | 20s Observations of ASASSN-15af | 20s | 1 | no |
| 095 | Gerald Handler | Asteroseismology of a peculiar triaxial pulsator | 20s | 1 | no |
| 094 | Martina Veresvarska | ASKAP J174508.9-505149 TESS DDT | 2m | 1 | no |
| 093 | Isaiah I. Tristan | TESS and JWST observations of a K-dwarf System | 20s | 1 | no |
| 092 | Jonatan Rudrasingam | High cadence observation of alpha Cen A for asteroseismology and simultaneous photometry and RV forward modelling | 20s | 1 | no |
| 091 | Robert Frazier | Constraining the Optical and NUV Transit of HAT-P-70 b | 2m | 1 | no |
| 090 | Mikkel Lund | Continued Observations of Bright Asteroseismic Stars with TESS | 20s | 93 | no |
| 089 | Dario Fritzewski | TESS monitoring of flaring CHEOPS targets | 20s | 2 | no |
| 088 | Joshua Preston Pritchard | Resolving flare activity from the radio pulsing ultracool dwarf SCR J18456357 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 086 | Alexander Venner | TESS Observations of a Unique Planet Candidate from K2 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 085 | Zixin Zhang & Bo Ma | Orbital Period Decay in WASP-107 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 084 | Martina Veresvarska | Accreting White Dwarfs as a Laboratory for Testing Accretion Flows | 20s | 1 | no |
| 083 | Natalie Allen | The multi-timescale multi-telescope view of stellar contamination in the WASP-19 system with JWST and TESS | 20s | 1 | no |
| 081 | Georgina Dransfield | Multiplicity of TIC 192833836 | 2m | 1 | no |
| 080 | Karen Pollard | The most active exocometary host star known | 20s | 1 | no |
| 079 | Michelle Kunimoto | Exploring Potential Lensing Source TIC-107150013 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 078 | Mikkel Lund & Ashley Chontos | Continued Observations of Bright Asteroseismic Stars with TESS | 20s | 162 | no |
| 077 | Luke Bouma | Complex Periodic Variables | 2m | 77 | no |
| 076 | Anne Dattilo | 20s Observations of a Young, Near-Resonant Planetary System to Measure TTVs | 20s | 1 | no |
| 075 | Andrew Vanderburg | 20s Observations of a single transit | 20s | 1 | no |
| 074 | Gerald Handler | The second Delta Scuti/roAp “hybrid” pulsator? | 20s | 1 | no |
| 073 | Rahul Jayaraman | Observations of Tria-Axial Pulsators | 20s | 4 | no |
| 072 | Mia Sloth Lundkvist | Granulation in M-dwarfs | 20s | 2 | no |
| 071 | Mikkel N. Lund | Asteroseismology of bright stars | 20s | 20 | no |
| 070 | Jeremy Schnittman | triple eclipsing system | 20s | 8 | no |
| 069 | Agnes Kospal | Reverberation in DR Tau | 20s | 1 | no |
| 068 | Mikkel N. Lund | Asteroseismology of Hyades and Preasepe Giants | 20s | 8 | no |
| 067 | Mary Anne Limbach & Andrew Vanderburg | Ages from Asteroseismology for the Habitable Worlds Observatory Targets using 20-second-Cadence TESS Data | 20s | 58 | no |
| 066 | Donald Kurtz et al. | Whatever happened to HD60435? | 20s | 1 | no |
| 065 | Michelle Kunimoto | New TOIs from Nearby Planet Candidates | 2m | 5 | no |
| 064 | Roland Vanderspek | CRM data collection | 20s | 64 | no |
| 063 | Daniel Huber | JWST Exoplanet Host Stars | 20s | 41 | no |
| 062 | Eder Martioli | TESS planet candidates orbiting thick-disk stars | 2m | 1 | no |
| 061 | Nestor Espinoza | Obtaining the best precision out of HAT-P-14b transit observations | 20s | 1 | no |
| 060 | Rahul Jayaraman | Tidally Tilted Pulsators in Cycle 4 | 2m | 3 | no |
| 059 | Daniella Gagliuffi | A Search for Asteroseismic Oscillations in 14 Her | 20s | 1 | no |
| 058 | Kevin Burdge | Eclipsing binary ZTF J1539+5027 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 057 | Maximilian N. Günther | Young Stellar Merger Remnant TYC 2597-735-1 | 20s | 4 | no |
| 056 | Mia Sloth Lundkvist | Asteroseismic observations of the Methuselah star | 20s | 1 | no |
| 055 | Maria Pia Di Mauro | The characterization of the host star GJ504 | 20s | 1 | no |
| 054 | Nora Eisner | Asteroseismic investigation of an evolved, bright planetary system | 20s | 1 | no |
| 053 | Rahul Jayaraman | OBA Stars with TESS | 20s | 3 | no |
| 052 | Alexis M. S. Smith | A unique chance to observe the transit of a planet in a 522-d orbit | 2m | 1 | no |
| 051 | Krista Lynne Smith | A NICER-TESS Synergistic Look at QPOs in AGN | 2m | 1 | no |
| 050 | Melinda Soares-Furtado | Asteroseismic Investigation of a Pulsating Blue Straggler in Open Cluster M67 | 2m | 1 | no |
| 049 | Michelle Kunimoto | White Dwarf Exoplanets | 20s | 50 | no |
| 048 | Michelle Kunimoto | White Dwarf Exoplanets | 2m | 412 | no |
| 047 | Michelle Kunimoto | M Dwarf Exoplanets | 2m | 2031 | no |
| 046 | Rahul Jayaraman | A Low-Temperature sdBV star in a Long-Period Binary | 20s | 1 | no |
| 045 | Michelle Kunimoto | Faint Star TOIs | 2m | 390 | no |
| 044 | Elyse Incha | Single-transit Planet Candidates from K2 Campaign 19E | 2m | 3 | no |
| 043 | Michelle Kunimoto | White Dwarf Exoplanets | 20s | 10 | no |
| 042 | Michelle Kunimoto | White Dwarf Exoplanets | 2m | 73 | no |
| 041 | Huber | A Survey of Oscillations and Granulation in Evolved Solar-Type Stars | 2m | 14838 | no |
| 040 | Venkatessh Ramakrishnan | TESS monitoring of quasar jets with standing shocks | 2m | 6 | no |
| 039 | Michelle Kunimoto | M Dwarf Exoplanets | 2m | 738 | no |
| 038 | Travis Metcalfe | Asteroseismology of Spectropolarimetric Benchmark Stars | 20s | 3 | no |
| 037 | Belinda Nicholson | Searching for transits of Year 2 single transit planet candidates | 2m | 123 | no |
| 036 | Trevor David | Weighing Newborn Planets in the V1298 Tau System | 2m | 1 | no |
| 035 | Melinda Soares-Furtado | Asteroseismic Investigation of Pulsating Blue Stragglers in NGC 6819 | 2m | 11 | no |
| 034 | Robert Aloisi/Andrew Vanderburg | White Dwarf Exoplanets Identified in TESS FFI Images | 2m | 39 | no |
| 033 | Sam Grunblatt | Hot Jupiters Around Evolved Stars | 2m | 25 | no |
| 032 | Rasmus Handberg | Asteroseismology of Solar-type stars, High-Frequency A-F Pulsators, and White Dwarfs | 20s | 1397 | no |
| 031 | Jamie Tayar | Digging Deep Into Massive Star Variability | 20s | 1 | no |
| 030 | Krzysztof Helminiak | Confirming a circumbinary planet with eclipse timing variations | 20s | 1 | no |
| 029 | Luke Bouma | Complex Modulation of Rapidly Rotating Young M Dwarfs | 20s | 10 | no |
| 028 | Luke Bouma | Complex Modulation of Rapidly Rotating Young M Dwarfs | 2m | 47 | no |
| 027 | Veselin Kostov | Stellar Multiples and Circumbinary Planets from TESS | 2m | 9 | no |
| 026 | David Wilson | Measuring the spin period of a rare magnetic white dwarf | 2m | 1 | no |
| 025 | Isaac Lopez | Candidate Pulsating Low-Mass White Dwarfs from Gaia DR2 | 2m | 26 | no |
| 024 | Diana Dragomir | TESS Single Transit Planet Candidate (TSTPC) | 2m | 100 | no |
| 023 | Andrew Vanderburg | Observations of New, High-Priority White Dwarfs with Circumstellar Dust | 2m | 19 | no |
| 022 | Vichi Antoci | High-frequency A-F pulsators | 20s | 2412 | no |
| 021 | Don Kurtz | Quiet A stars | 20s | 53 | no |
| 020 | Veselin Kostov | Stellar Multiples from TESS | 2m | 32 | no |
| 019 | Derek Buzesi | B Star Asteroseismology | 2m | 27 | no |
| 018 | Andrew Vanderburg | TIC 207425167, a system with a long-period Jupiter with only a single transit | 2m | 1 | no |
| 017 | Nicolas Crouzet | Characterizing the XO-7 System | 2m | 1 | no |
| 016 | Timothy Bedding | High-frequency Delta-Scuti Stars | 2m | 373 | no |
| 015 | Jari Kajava | Quasi-periodic eruptions from an active galactic nucleus | 2m | 1 | no |
| 014 | James Davenport | QX Cas | 2m | 1 | no |
| 013 | Joshua Pepper | Single-transit candidates for Year 2 | 2m | 25 | no |
| 012 | Avi Shporer | Known Transiting Planets | 2m | 39 | no |
| 011 | Isaac Lopez | Candidate Pulsating Low-Mass White Dwarfs from Gaia DR2 | 2m | 40 | no |
| 010 | Nobu Kawai | X-ray sources observed by MAXI | 2m | 90 | no |
| 009 | Colin Littlefield | TESS observations of erratic accretion onto the magnetized white dwarf in V496 UMa | 2m | 1 | no |
| 008 | Padi Boyd | Solar Siblings in Sectors 12 and 13 | 2m | 2 | no |
| 007 | Allison Youngblood | Searching for planets around high velocity stars to enable UV Transmission Spectroscopy | 2m | 113 | no |
| 006 | JJ Hermes | New White Dwarfs from Gaia | 2m | 239 | no |
| 005 | Christopher Burke | Discovered TOIs | 2m | 20 | no |
| 004 | Jessie Christiansen | Lowest-Metallicity TESS Targets | 2m | 3361 | no |
| 003 | Ian Crossfield | K2 Planet Candidates | 2m | 60 | no |
| 002 | Lisa Kaltenegger | Stars where TESS can probe 1AU equivalent distance | 2m | 1811 | no |
| 001 | Zach Berta-Thompson | New Young Moving Group Members from Gaia DR2 | 2m | 1865 | no |