The S-PLUS 12-band photometry as a powerful tool for discovery and classification: ten cataclysmic variables in a proof-of-concept study

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that S-PLUS 12-band photometry can effectively identify and classify cataclysmic variables, revealing diverse subclasses and complementing existing discovery methods for understanding binary star evolution.

Contribution

The paper introduces a novel photometric selection method using S-PLUS data to identify accreting white dwarf systems, validated by spectroscopic follow-up and X-ray observations.

Findings

Successfully identified ten CVs with spectroscopic confirmation.

Discovered CV subclasses that are missed by traditional surveys.

Showed S-PLUS's potential for broader astrophysical source characterization.

Abstract

Multi-band photometric surveys provide a straightforward way to discover and classify astrophysical objects systematically, enabling the study of a large number of targets at relatively low cost. Here we introduce an alternative approach to select Accreting White Dwarf (AWD) candidates following their spectral energy distribution, entirely supported by the twelve photometric bands of the Southern Photometric Local Universe Survey (S-PLUS). The method was validated with optical spectroscopic follow-up with the Gemini South telescope which unambiguously established ten systems as cataclysmic variables (CVs), alongside Swift X-ray observations of four of them. Among the ten CVs presented here are those that may be low-luminosity intermediate polars or WZ Sge-type dwarf novae with rare outbursts, two subclasses that can be easily missed in time-domain and X-ray surveys, the two methods currently dominating the discovery of new CVs. Our approach based on S-PLUS provides an important, complementary tool to uncover the total population of CVs and the complete set of its subclasses, which is an important step towards a full understanding of close binary evolution, including the origin of magnetic fields in white dwarfs and the physics of accretion. Finally, we highlight the potential of S-PLUS beyond AWDs, serving other surveys in the characterization of their sources.