GD 552: a cataclysmic variable with a brown dwarf companion?

Abstract

GD 552 is a high proper motion star with the strong, double-peaked emission lines characteristic of the dwarf nova class of cataclysmic variable star, and yet no outburst has been detected during the past 12 years of monitoring. We present spectroscopy taken with the aim of detecting emission from the mass donor in this system. We fail to do so at a level which allows us to rule out the presence of a near-main-sequence star donor. Given GD 552's orbital period of 103 minutes, this suggests that it is either a system that has evolved through the ~80-minute orbital period minimum of cataclysmic variable stars and now has a brown dwarf mass donor, or that has formed with a brown dwarf donor in the first place. This model explains the low observed orbital velocity of the white dwarf and GD 552's low luminosity. It is also consistent with the absence of outbursts from the system.

References in corpus (17)

• An Exploration of the Paradigm for the 2-3 Hour Period Gap in Cataclysmic Variables
• Brown Dwarfs and the Cataclysmic Variable Period Minimum
• HS2331+3905: The cataclysmic variable that has it all
• A brown dwarf mass donor in an accreting binary
• The mass of the white dwarf in the old nova BT Mon
• The Nonradially-Pulsating Primary of the Cataclysmic Variable GW Librae
• The Formation of Cataclysmic Variables with Brown Dwarf Secondaries
• Angular momentum losses and the orbital period distribution of cataclysmic variables below the period gap: effects of circumbinary disks
• VLT/FORS spectroscopy of faint cataclysmic variables discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• HS2237+8154: On the onset of mass transfer or entering the period gap?
• A ZZ Ceti white dwarf in SDSS J133941.11+484727.5
• Pulsations, Boundary Layers, and Period Bounce in the Cataclysmic Variable RE J1255+266
• A spectroscopic search for faint secondaries in cataclysmic variables
• SDSS J161033.64-010223.3: A second Cataclysmic Variable with a Non-radially Pulsating Primary
• On the evidence for brown-dwarf secondary stars in cataclysmic variables
• Discovery of a cataclysmic variable with a sub-stellar companion
• Detection of the white dwarf and the secondary star in the new SU UMa dwarf nova HS 2219+1824

Cited by in corpus (18)

• SDSS unveils a population of intrinsically faint cataclysmic variables at the minimum orbital period
• A Volume Limited Sample of Cataclysmic Variables from $Gaia$ DR2: Space Density and Population Properties
• Constraining the Evolution of Cataclysmic Variables via the Masses and Accretion Rates of their Underlying White Dwarfs
• Survey of Period Variations of Superhumps in SU UMa-Type Dwarf Novae. IV: The Fourth Year (2011-2012)
• The accretion disk in the post period-minimum cataclysmic variable SDSS J080434.20+510349.2
• The cataclysmic variable QZ Lib: a period bouncer
• Towards a volumetric census of close white dwarf binaries I.Reference samples
• Galactic Model Parameters and Space Density of Cataclysmic Variables in Gaia Era: New Constraints to Population Models
• Period bouncers as detached magnetic cataclysmic variables
• The remarkable outburst of the highly evolved post-period-minimum dwarf nova SSS J122221.7-311525
• A New Sub-Period-Minimum CV with Partial Hydrogen Depletion and Evidence of Spiral Disk Structure
• ASASSN-16dt and ASASSN-16hg: Promising Candidates for a Period Bouncer
• Characterization of Dwarf Novae Using SDSS Colors
• Cataclysmic variables around the period-bounce: An eROSITA-enhanced multi-wavelength catalog
• A J-band detection of the sub-stellar mass donor in SDSS J1433+1011
• Cataclysmic Variables in the SUPERBLINK Proper Motion Survey
• Gaia white dwarfs with infrared excess I. The 100 pc catalogue
• eROSITA-selection of new period-bounce Cataclysmic Variables: First follow-up confirmation using TESS and SDSS