A Systematic Search for Big Dippers in ASAS-SN

TL;DR

This paper systematically searches the ASAS-SN dataset for dipper stars and eclipsing binaries, discovering new candidates and classifying them based on their light curve characteristics and multi-wavelength data.

Contribution

It presents a comprehensive search and classification of dipper stars and long-period eclipsing binaries within the ASAS-SN data, identifying new objects and categorizing their variability.

Findings

Discovered 4 new dipper candidates.

Identified 15 long-period eclipsing binary candidates.

Classified objects into three variability categories.

Abstract

Dipper stars are extrinsically variable stars with deep dimming events due to extended, often dusty, structures produced by a wide range of mechanisms such as collisions, protoplanetary evolution or stellar winds. ASAS-SN has discovered 12 dipper-like objects as part of its normal operations. Here we systematically search the $\sim 5.1$ million ASAS-SN targets with $13<g<14$~mag for dippers with $\Delta g\ge0.3$~mag to identify 4 new candidates. We also discover 15 long-period eclipsing binary candidates. We characterized the 19 new and 12 previously discovered objects using the ASAS-SN light curves and archival multi-wavelength data. We divide them into three categories: long-period eclipsing binaries with a single eclipse (13 total), long-period eclipsing binaries with multiple eclipses (7 total) and dipper stars with dust or disk occultations (11 total).