The outburst of a 60 min AM CVn reveals peculiar color evolution: implications for outbursts in long period double white dwarfs

TL;DR

This study presents multi-wavelength observations of a rare long-period AM CVn system's outburst, revealing peculiar color evolution inconsistent with existing models, and suggests enhanced mass-transfer as a possible outburst mechanism.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of color evolution in long-period AM CVns, challenging disk instability predictions and highlighting the role of enhanced mass-transfer in outbursts.

Findings

Outburst lasted about one year with small amplitude.

Color evolution track inconsistent with disk instability model.

Detected infrared excess indicating a directly observed donor.

Abstract

We report on multi-wavelength observations during quiescence and of the first detected outburst of the ~60 min orbital period AM CVn SDSS J113732+405458. Using X-ray and UV observations we determined an upper limit duration of the event of about one year. The amplitude of the outburst was remarkably small, of around one magnitude in r and 0.5 magnitudes in g. We have also investigated the color variations of SDSS J113732+405458 and other long period AM CVns in outbursts and identified a track on the color-magnitude diagram that is not compatible with the predictions of the disk instability model, suggesting that some outbursts in long period AM CVns are caused by enhanced mass-transfer. To our knowledge, these are the first studies of the color evolution in AM CVns. During quiescence we measured an X-ray luminosity for SDSS J113732+405458 of ~3E29 erg/s in the 0.5-10 keV band. This indicates a very low accretion rate, in agreement with the disk instability model for long period systems. However, such a model predicts stable disks at somewhat long periods. The discovery of this system outburst, along with similarities to the long period system SDSS J080710+485259 with a comparably long, weak outburst, indicates that these enhanced mass-transfer events may be more common in long period AM CVns. A larger sample would be needed to determine empirically at what period, if any, the disk instability stops functioning entirely. Finally, we identified an infrared excess in the quiescence spectrum attributable to the donor. This makes SDSS J113732+405458 the second AM CVn to have a directly detected donor.