The tested 11 by 11 pixel cutouts for K2-146 in TESS sectors 44 and 46 contain no science pixels

We tested whether two public TESSCut files for K2-146 contain pixels that can measure starlight. We used their physical detector coordinates and the published TESS detector bounds. Both 11 by 11 pixel cutouts contain zero science pixels. Sector 44 spans RAWX 6 through 16. Sector 46 spans RAWX 1 through 11. Both ranges are in the leading virtual columns. The files have 3,261 and 3,320 rows with QUALITY equal to zero. Thus, a zero quality flag does not establish that the star is observed in these files. An independent calculation and Astropy give the same geometry. We provide the exact FITS inputs, hashes, source code, a figure, and a coverage check that uses only the Python standard library. The result applies to these two products, downloaded on 2026-10-21. It gives no constraint on the absence or change of planet transits. The general TESSCut collateral-pixel issue is known from prior work. This study adds a reproducible K2-146 case and a tested coverage check.

TESS · K2-146 · TESSCut · detector coverage · virtual columns · transit searches · data validation