PTF1 J071912.13+485834.0: AN OUTBURSTING AM CVn SYSTEM DISCOVERED BY A SYNOPTIC SURVEY

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Astrophysical Journal

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/739/2/68; COUNTRY OF INPUT: INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA)· OSTI ID:21587497

Levitan, David; Prince, Thomas A ^[1]; Fulton, Benjamin J; Shporer, Avi ^[2]; Groot, Paul J ^[3]; Kulkarni, Shrinivas R; Ofek, Eran O; Kasliwal, Mansi M; Quimby, Robert M; Horesh, Assaf; Sesar, Branimir ^[4]; Bloom, Joshua S; Bradley Cenko, S; Poznanski, Dovi ^[5]; Law, Nicholas M ^[6]; Nugent, Peter E ^[7]; Sternberg, Assaf ^[8]

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1. Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
2. Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope Network, 6740 Cortona Drive, Suite 102, Santa Barbara, CA 93117 (United States)
3. Department of Astrophysics, IMAPP, Radboud University Nijmegen, P.O. Box 9010, NL-6500 GL Nijmegen (Netherlands)
4. Cahill Center for Astrophysics, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125 (United States)
5. Department of Astronomy, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3411 (United States)
6. Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Toronto, 50 St. George Street, Toronto, M5S 3H4 Ontario (Canada)
7. Computational Cosmology Center, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 1 Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720 (United States)
8. Benoziyo Center for Astrophysics, Faculty of Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100 (Israel)

We present extensive photometric and spectroscopic observations of PTF1 J071912.13+485834.0, an outbursting AM CVn system discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). AM CVn systems are stellar binaries with some of the smallest separations known and orbital periods ranging from 5 to 65 minutes. They are believed to be composed of a white dwarf accretor and a (semi-)degenerate He-rich donor and are considered to be the helium equivalents of cataclysmic variables (CVs). We have spectroscopically and photometrically identified an orbital period of 26.77 {+-} 0.02 minutes for PTF1 J071912.13+485834.0 and found a super-outburst recurrence time of greater than 65 days along with the presence of 'normal' outbursts-rarely seen in AM CVn systems but well known in super-outbursting CVs. We present a long-term light curve over two super-cycles as well as high-cadence photometry of both outburst and quiescent stages, both of which show clear variability. We also compare both the outburst and quiescent spectra of PTF1 J071912.13+485834.0 to other known AM CVn systems, and use the quiescent phase-resolved spectroscopy to determine the origin of the photometric variability. Finally, we draw parallels between the different subclasses of SU UMa-type CVs and outbursting AM CVn systems. We conclude by predicting that the PTF may more than double the number of outbursting AM CVn systems known, which would greatly increase our understanding of AM CVn systems.

• OSTI ID: 21587497
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 739, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/739/2/68; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTROPHYSICS
COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
ACCRETION DISKS
NOVAE
PHOTOMETRY
WHITE DWARF STARS
BINARY STARS
DWARF STARS
ERUPTIVE VARIABLE STARS
STARS
VARIABLE STARS