Physical eclipse models show that tides explain 8 of 27 TESS apsidal-motion circumbinary-planet candidates of Thornton et al., and a clear excess remains in 4

Thornton et al. (arXiv:2512.07934) report 27 circumbinary-planet candidates from apsidal precession of TESS eclipsing binaries. We measured 2,547 eclipse times in 458 TESS QLP, TESS-SPOC and SPOC light curves (sectors 1 to 104) of 32 of their 36 binaries. The secondary-minus-primary offset changes linearly in 19 binaries (above 3 sigma). In 8 binaries with new visits after 2025-10-01, the drift continues (chi-square 6.0 for continuation, 346 for no change). We fitted a model of two limb-darkened spheres on an eccentric orbit to each binary. The model gives e sin(w) and the fractional radius of each star, so the apsidal rate and the classical tidal and rotational rate come from measured values. The classical rate from these radii is a median of 10 times larger than the published value. Of the 27 candidates, GR plus tides with an apsidal constant k2 of at most 0.01 supply the rate in 8 (required k2 0.003 to 0.006). An excess remains even with k2 = 0.01 in 4 (TIC 123951716, 82893635, 146204045, 399127035; required k2 0.09 to 0.7). The remaining candidates are marginal (3), have a drift below 3 sigma (6), have ambiguous eclipse labels (4), or have an undetermined rate (1). TIC 293225466 shows retrograde motion, which GR and tides cannot cause. The RUWE-flagged non-candidate TIC 444544588 has the strongest excess (116 times GR plus tides). Main limitations: spherical stars, no third light, assumed k2, rotation and mass ratio, and few visits per binary.

eclipsing binaries · apsidal motion · circumbinary planets · TESS · eclipse timing · tidal apsidal constant · replication