DIAmante TESS AutoRegressive Planet Search (DTARPS). III. Understanding the DTARPS-S Candidate Transiting Planet Catalogs

The DIAmante Transiting Exoplanet Sky Survey (TESS) AutoRegressive Planet Search (DTARPS) project, using novel statistical methods, has identified several hundred candidates for transiting planetary systems obtained from 0.9 million full-frame Image light curves obtained in the TESS Year 1 southern-hemisphere survey. Ten lines of evidence including limited reconnaissance spectroscopy indicate that approximately half are true planets rather than false positives. Here various population properties of these candidates are examined. Half of the DTARPS-S candidates are hot Neptunes, populating the “Neptune desert” found in Kepler-planet samples. The DTARPS-S samples also identify dozens of ultrashort-period planets with orbital periods down to 5 hr, high-priority systems for atmospheric transmission spectroscopy, and planets orbiting low-mass M stars. DTARPS-S methodology is sufficiently well characterized at each step so that preliminary planet occurrence rates can be estimated. Except for the increase in hot Neptunes, DTARPS-S planet occurrence rates are consistent with Kepler rates. Overall, DTARPS-S provides one of the most reliable and useful catalogs of TESS exoplanet candidates that can be used to to improve our understanding of various exoplanetary populations and astrophysical processes.