The 1.4418-day cycle fits Gaia DR3 and ZTF data for WD 1953−011 better than the reported 1.4541-day cycle

The public Gaia DR3 light curve of WD 1953−011 fits the known 1.441788-day brightness cycle better than 1.454100708 days. Steen et al. (2024), Table 3 and text in arXiv version 2, report the latter period as 34.898417 hours. We test periods from 0.1 to 10 days with weighted sine fits. We fit 36 accepted Gaia G measurements and independently identified ZTF g and r light curves. The Gaia G best period is 1.441792 days. Its weighted residual scatter is 3.38 parts per thousand at the known period and 22.32 at the reported period. The ZTF best periods are 1.441918 days in g and 1.441847 days in r. Both bands fit the known period better. Proper motion, brightness, and source positions support the ZTF match. Tests with other data cuts, equal weights, and omitted Gaia visits retain the preference between the two fixed periods. Flagged ZTF data affect the precise fitted period. Residual block simulations give approximate intervals within the selected period peak. Gaia BP and RP and TESS sector 54 provide supporting checks. This is a period audit of a known variable star. The exact earlier fit has not been reproduced, and the cause of its different value remains unresolved. The package contains frozen public inputs, source requests and hashes, code, figures, numerical results, and offline reproduction instructions.

WD 1953-011 · magnetic white dwarf · Gaia DR3 · ZTF · TESS · photometric period · proper motion · reproducible astronomy