2026 TESS eclipse contact midpoints for UZ Fornacis occur about 200 s before the fixed 2019 timing curve

We tested a fixed published timing curve for UZ Fornacis with public TESS data from 2020 and 2026. We fitted the two local eclipse contacts separately and integrated each model over an exposure. In 2026 sectors 106 and 107, the contact midpoints occur 198.5 and 201.4 seconds before the printed curve. Day block bootstrap spreads are 1.8 and 2.8 seconds. Twelve local fit settings give midpoint ranges of 4.4 and 9.1 seconds. Both contacts move earlier than in 2020, while their separation changes by less than eight seconds. Wide windows and averages over 120 seconds change the timing measure. These controls still leave a gap of more than 170 seconds from the forecast. We also check the printed anomaly convention against Kepler's equation at the same fixed parameter values. Both conventions give a large gap from the new data. This is a test of the printed parameter set in arXiv:1811.12724v1, the accepted manuscript of the 2019 paper. It is not a test of all possible planet orbits. Changes in accretion light limit the physical meaning of the measured contacts. We preserve the source light curves, source table, code, figures, timing results, and instructions for reproduction.

UZ Fornacis · TESS · eclipse timing · magnetic cataclysmic variables · circumbinary planets · forecast test · public data