Five New Outbursting AM CVn Systems Discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory

Abstract

We present five new outbursting AM CVn systems and one candidate discovered as part of an ongoing search for such systems using the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). This is the first large-area, systematic search for AM CVn systems using only large-amplitude photometric variability to select candidates. Three of the confirmed systems and the candidate system were discovered as part of the PTF transient search. Two systems were found as part of a search for outbursts through the PTF photometric database. We discuss the observed characteristics of each of these systems, including the orbital periods of two systems. We also consider the position of these systems, selected in a colour-independent survey, in colour-colour space and compare to systems selected solely by their colours. We find that the colours of our newly discovered systems do not differ significantly from those of previously known systems, but significant errors preclude a definitive answer.

13 pages, 11 figures, accepted to MNRAS

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• High-Speed Photometry of Gaia14aae: An Eclipsing AM CVn That Challenges Formation Models
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• Phase resolved spectroscopy and Kepler photometry of the ultracompact AM CVn binary SDSS J190817.07+394036.4
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• A 15.7-Minute AM CVn Binary Discovered in K2
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• TACOS: TESS AM~CVn Outbursts Survey
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• The Superoutburst Duration versus Orbital Period Relation for AM CVn stars
• A Catalogue of Ultracompact Mass-Transferring White Dwarf Binaries
• The Fast Evolving, Tremendous and Blue Superoutburst in ASASSN-21au Reveals a Dichotomy in the Outbursts of Long-period AM CVns
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• TCP J07222683$+$6220548: a new AM CVn type system with infrequent outbursts