Simulations of starspot anomalies within TESS exoplanetary transit light curves

Context. The primary targets of the NASA Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) are K and M dwarf stars within our solar neighbourhood. Young K and M dwarf stars are known to exhibit a high starspot coverage (≈50%), however, older stars are known to show fewer starspots. This implies that TESS transit light curves at 2 min cadence may contain starspot anomalies, and if so, will require transit-starspot models to determine accurately the properties of the system. Aims. The goals are to determine if starspot anomalies can manifest in TESS transit light curves, to determine the detection limits of the starspot anomalies, and to examine the relationship between the change in flux caused by the starspot anomaly and the planetary transit. Methods. We conducted 20 573 simulations of planetary transits around spotted stars using the transit-starspot model, PRIS