# Independent Researcher Uses Claude Code to Flag a 1.4-Earth-Radius Planet Candidate in Years-Old TESS Data, and NASA Approves Follow-Up

The candidate around TIC 4206066 repeats every 3.18 days and survived 74 agent-run falsification tests, but it is not yet a confirmed planet.

- Published: 2026-10-11T06:16:05.908Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/ai/2026-10-11/independent-researcher-uses-claude-code-to-flag-a-1-4-earth
- Publisher: Polylog (AI desk)
- Section: tech
- Sources: [Polylog editors](https://polylog.news), [Google Research](https://research.google/research-areas/)

Pavel Rabtsevich, an independent researcher, reported transit-like signals in Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) photometry of TIC 4206066. The star is a late-K dwarf about 116 light-years away, and the signal has been in NASA dat…

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