Hot Subdwarf All Southern Sky Fast Transit Survey with the Evryscope

TL;DR

This study used the Evryscope's wide-field, high-cadence observations to identify hot subdwarfs and related transiting and variable phenomena, including potential exoplanets and compact binaries, in the southern sky.

Contribution

First large-scale survey of hot subdwarfs using Evryscope, combining machine learning and follow-up analysis to discover new binaries and planetary candidates.

Findings

Detected three planet transit candidates with follow-up analysis.

Discovered several new compact binaries and reflection effect binaries.

Identified 11,000 potential hot subdwarfs and estimated 1,400 in the survey.

Abstract

We have conducted a survey of candidate hot subdwarf stars in the southern sky searching for fast transits, eclipses, and sinusoidal like variability in the Evryscope light curves. The survey aims to detect transit signals from Neptune size planets to gas-giants, and eclipses from M-dwarfs and brown dwarfs. The other variability signals are primarily expected to be from compact binaries and reflection effect binaries. Due to the small size of hot subdwarfs, transit and eclipse signals are expected to last only twenty minutes, but with large signal depths (up to completely eclipsing if the orientation is edge on). With its 2-minute cadence and continuous observing Evryscope is well placed to recover these fast transits and eclipses. The very large field of view (8150 sq. deg.) is critical to obtain enough hot subdwarf targets, despite their rarity. We identified 11,000 potential hot subdwarfs from the 9.3M Evryscope light curves for sources brighter than mg = 15. With our machine learning spectral classifier, we flagged high-confidence targets and estimate the total hot subdwarfs in the survey to be 1400. The light curve search detected three planet transit candidates, shown to have stellar companions from followup analysis. We discovered several new compact binaries (including two with unseen degenerate companions, and several others with potentially rare secondaries), two eclipsing binaries with M-dwarf companions, as well as new reflection effect binaries and others with sinusoidal like variability. The hot subdwarf discoveries identified here are spectroscopically confirmed and we verified the Evryscope discovery light curve with TESS light curves when available. Four of the discoveries are in the process of being published in separate followup papers, and we discuss the followup potential of several of the other discoveries.