Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We present the discovery of six new eclipsing AM CVn binaries, helium-accreting ultracompact systems in which a cool donor eclipses the accreting white dwarf. The systems were found in a GPU-accelerated Box Least Squares (BLS) search of Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) photometry and have orbital periods of 39.3 to 59.9 minutes. We obtained spectroscopy with the Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (LRIS) on the Keck I telescope for all six systems, and every spectrum shows helium emission with no detectable hydrogen, confirming their AM CVn classification. Our discoveries increase the number of deeply eclipsing AM CVn from 11 to 17 (i.e., systems in which the accreting white dwarf is both the dominant source of optical light and eclipsed by the donor). With high-speed photometric follow-up, these systems will provide the mass ratios, inclinations, and fractional radii of both components. They will also provide new tests of AM CVn formation models and stronger constraints on the long-term evolution of these sources.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Householder, Aaron, Burdge, Kevin B., Zhang, Yapeng, Chickles, Emma, van Roestel, Jan, Green, Matthew J., Brauer, Kaley, Chakraborty, Joheen, Dinsmore, Jack, Furesz, Gabor, García-Mejía, Juliana, Graham, Matthew J., Kesseli, Aurora Y., Kulkarni, Shrinivas R., Layden, Christopher, Mo, Geoffrey, Osip, David, Romani, Roger W., Vanderburg, Andrew
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, W. M. Keck Foundation, California Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, University of Washington, NASA Exoplanet Science Institute, University of Warwick, Trinity College Dublin, Weizmann Institute of Science, Stockholms Universitet, Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron, Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
OpenAlex ID: W7224737114