Speaker
Description
The Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) has accumulated an unprecedented photometric dataset for pulsating stars across the entire sky. RV Tauri stars and a subset of semiregular variables (SRVs) are asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and post-AGB pulsators. The former are characterized by fundamental pulsation with periods of 20–80 days and amplitudes of 1–4 magnitudes, while SRVs often exhibit simultaneous pulsation in fundamental and overtone modes, with periods extending from tens to several hundred days. The scientific value of TESS observations for these stars depends strongly on the available time baseline. While most targets are observed for only a single 27-day sector, stars located in overlapping sectors may be monitored for several months, with coverage approaching one year in the Continuous Viewing Zones (CVZs). Light curve quality further depends on target brightness and source crowding, as well as on the ability to mitigate instrumental systematics. We examine the available data with particular attention to the AGB stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), which lies within the southern CVZ and therefore benefits from extended temporal coverage, while also presenting challenges due to severe crowding. Our study aims to provide a practical overview of the strengths and limitations of TESS observations for RV Tauri and semiregular variables and to identify the most promising targets and datasets for future studies of long-period stellar variability.