The TOI-1516 b table in Sonbas et al. (2025) has inconsistent timing residuals

We check the TOI-1516 b timing data in Sonbas et al. (2025) and measure public TESS light curves again. The final journal table has 108 records. At orbit 911, two printed times and their listed residuals violate a required equality by 48.96 minutes. This contradiction does not depend on an orbital model. Also, 100 residuals match times rounded to 0.001 day. A fit to all printed times gives a period change of -60.2 +/- 14.3 milliseconds per year with fixed quoted errors. A fitted common error scale increases the error to 52.1 milliseconds per year. Under that noise assumption, BIC favors a constant period by 3.32. We independently measure 103 transits from ten TESS sectors in 2019-2024. With one shared archive time system, the rate is -23.4 +/- 13.9 milliseconds per year. With one free offset between early FFI and later 120-second products, it is +6.0 +/- 37.9 milliseconds per year. Both TESS fits are consistent with zero. The table contradiction is exact. The physical rate limits depend on the time calibration, transit template, and noise assumptions. We do not identify which fields entered the earlier fit or repeat its periodic signal search. The package contains the raw light curves, source table, provenance, code, timing data, figures, and reproduction instructions.

TOI-1516 b · TESS · transit timing · orbital decay · data audit · error model