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We present follow-up observations of TESS targets conducted by our research group at George Mason University. Targets were observed nightly through a 0.8m telescope, and chosen through the SG1 TESS Transit Finder. Using AstroImageJ, a software package for image processing, our team reduced, platesolved and performed aperture photometry on images of targets. Apertures were chosen through accounting for seeing, nearby companions, and target brightness. Comparison stars were then reviewed, and target light curves were detrended using various observation parameters. AstroImageJ was used to run a NEB star check, and transits of the target were modeled through ExoFASTv2. Findings from this data analysis have contributed to multiple TOI detections and continue to expand the validation of candidates from the TESS mission.

We present a unique implementation of python coding in an asynchronous object-oriented framework to fully automate the process of collecting data with the George Mason University Observatory’s 0.8-meter telescope. The goal of this project is to streamline the process of collecting research data and monitoring weather, most often for follow-up observations for the TESS mission. We have automated slews and dome movements, CCD exposures, saving FITS images, focusing and guiding on the target, and taking calibration images (darks and flats). We also have automated periodically checking weather conditions to automate the decision-making involved in whether a shutdown is necessary. We are now able to input the specifications of the desired target in a user-friendly GUI that generates an input configuration file and launches the command-line code at the beginning of the night. The code, in its current state, has been tested and used for observations without error on at least 110 nights., {"references":["W. J. Borucki, D. Koch, G. Basri, et al., \"Kepler planet-detection mission: Introduction and first results,\" Science 327(5968), 977–980 (2010).","G. R. Ricker, J. N. Winn, R. Vanderspek, et al., \"Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite,\" Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 1(1), 1 – 10 (2014).","D. Nesvorny and A. Morbidelli, \"Mass and orbit determination from transit timing variations of exoplanets,\" The Astrophysical Journal 688, 636–646 (2008).","C. Baranec, R. Riddle, A. N. Ramaprakash, et al., \"Robo-ao: autonomous and replicable laser-adaptive-optics and science system,\" Adaptive Optics Systems III (2012).","J. J. Swift, M. Bottom, J. A. Johnson, et al., \"Miniature exoplanet radial velocity array i: design, commissioning, and early photometric results,\" Journal of Astronomical Telescopes, Instruments, and Systems 1, 027002 (2015).","J. Eastman, B. S. Gaudi, R. Siverd, et al., \"DEMONEX: the DEdicated MONitor of EXo-transits,\" in Ground-based and Airborne Telescopes III, L. M. Stepp, R. Gilmozzi, and H. J. Hall, Eds., 7733, 1243 – 1250, International Society for Optics and Photonics, SPIE (2010).","K. Collins and J. Kielkopf, \"Astroimagej: Imagej for astronomy,\" (2013). Astrophysics source code library."]}