English

1000 cataclysmic variables identified from DESI spectroscopy

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2026-07-24 v1
Authors: K. Inight , B. T. Gänsicke , A. Aungwerojwit , P. Izquierdo , C. J. Manser , A. D. Myers , A. Swan , J. R. Thorstensen , J. Aguilar , S. Ahlen , D. Bianchi , D. Brooks , T. Claybaugh , A. de la Macorra , Biprateep Dey , P. Doel , A. Font-Ribera , J. E. Forero-Romero , Satya Gontcho A Gontcho , G. Gutierrez , J. Guy , R. Joyce , S. Juneau , S. E. Koposov , A. Kremin , M. Landriau , L. Le Guillou , A. Meisner , R. Miquel , J. Moustakas , J. Najita , I. Pérez-Ràfols , W. J. Percival , F. Prada , G. Rossi , E. Sanchez , D. Schlegel , M. Schubnell , H. Seo , J. Silber , G. Tarlé , B. A. Weaver , R. Zhou , H. Zou
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Abstract

Most cataclysmic variables (CVs) are discovered when they have an outburst generating an inherent selection bias against CVs that rarely, or never, outburst. CVs discovered by virtue of their spectroscopic characteristics are particularly valuable to offset this bias and we have used an established machine-learning technique to assist in searching 98 966 000 spectra obtained by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Survey (DESI) to find such CVs. DESI observations are much deeper than previous spectroscopic surveys and we have identified 1029 CVs, 221 of which are new including ten of the AM CVn subtype. We have spectroscopically confirmed 441 CV candidates and obtained 84 new or improved orbital periods. We present revised space density estimates based upon this new data. We have also added ten more to the eight known examples of an intriguing class of CVs which exhibit peculiar changes in accretion.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.22836,
  title  = {1000 cataclysmic variables identified from DESI spectroscopy},
  author = {K. Inight and B. T. Gänsicke and A. Aungwerojwit and P. Izquierdo and C. J. Manser and A. D. Myers and A. Swan and J. R. Thorstensen and J. Aguilar and S. Ahlen and D. Bianchi and D. Brooks and T. Claybaugh and A. de la Macorra and Biprateep Dey and P. Doel and A. Font-Ribera and J. E. Forero-Romero and Satya Gontcho A Gontcho and G. Gutierrez and J. Guy and R. Joyce and S. Juneau and S. E. Koposov and A. Kremin and M. Landriau and L. Le Guillou and A. Meisner and R. Miquel and J. Moustakas and J. Najita and I. Pérez-Ràfols and W. J. Percival and F. Prada and G. Rossi and E. Sanchez and D. Schlegel and M. Schubnell and H. Seo and J. Silber and G. Tarlé and B. A. Weaver and R. Zhou and H. Zou},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.22836},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

28 pages, 35 figures plus extensive supplementary information. Submitted to MNRAS