TUVOpipe: a pipeline to search for UV transients with Swift-UVOT

Modiano, David; Wijnands, Rudy; Parikh, Aastha; van Opijnen, Jari; Verberne, Sill; van Etten, Marieke

doi:10.48550/arxiv.2202.10143

Cited by 2 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Many of the UV transients we find indeed can be identified as previously known DNe (see e.g. Verberne et al 2020 andModiano et al 2022 for some examples). However, some transients we detect may be DNe but lack any, or clear, previous classifications (see e.g.…”

Section: Sciencementioning

confidence: 53%

“…With this method we find serendipitous UV transients in near real-time every day (i.e. due to all Swift data being public and accessible, with this method we are notified of detected transients within a few hours to a day after the observations are performed), and we follow-up the most interesting candidates with ground-and space-based spectroscopic and photometric observations (see Modiano et al 2022 for how we determine whether a transient candidate is interesting). Due to the prevalence of DNe in the Galaxy and their large outburst amplitudes in the UV, the TUVO project is ideally suited to the discovery of such sources and the study of their outbursts.…”

Section: Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

“…deep sky surveys, that may have observed the source while it was in quiescence). We refer to Modiano et al (2022) for a full list of all the catalogues we probe in the TUVO project and further information for each. None of the transient or variable catalogues revealed a previously known source within 5" of the position of TUVO-21acq, suggesting that this source was not previously known to be variable.…”

Section: External Archival Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An important aim of this study is to serve as a proof-of-concept for the TUVO project (Wijnands et al, in prep) and thus to demonstrate the ability of our dedicated pipeline TUVOpipe (Modiano et al 2022) in discovering new, previously unclassified transients in the UV wavelength range. The UV transient sky remains to be systematically explored, despite the fact that many types of interesting, highly energetic transient phenomena exhibit strong UV emission.…”

Section: Tuvo Proof-of-conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Observations, analysis, and results2.1. DiscoveryTUVO-21acq was first detected in UVOT data on 23 February 2021, during our daily running of TUVOpipe (seeModiano et al 2022 for details of the pipeline and how it detects tran-1 See https://swift.gsfc.nasa.gov/about_swift/uvot_ desc.html for a description of the instrument, including information about the UV and optical filters available…”

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confidence: 99%

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TUVO-21acq: a new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

Modiano,

Wijnands,

Buckley

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Outbursts from cataclysmic variables, such as dwarf novae (DNe), are prevalent throughout the galaxy and are known to emit strongly in the ultraviolet (UV). However, the UV emission of DN outbursts has not been studied extensively compared with the optical. Characterising in detail the physical processes responsible for outburst behaviour requires further UV data, since the UV probes the inner regions of the accretion disk. Here we report, as part of our recently launched Transient UV Objects Project (TUVO), the discovery of TUVO-21acq, a new transient which we detected in the UV using data from the Ultraviolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) aboard Swift. We detected two separate outbursts and used the UVOT data to constrain source properties, focusing on the amplitudes and timescales of the outbursts. We found that during the first outburst the source increased in brightness by at least 4.1, 2.4, and 3.5 magnitudes and during the second outburst by 4.4, 3.4, and 3.6 magnitudes in the UVW1, UVM2, and UVW2 bands, respectively. The outburst durations were in the range 6-21 days and 11-46 days, and we determined an upper limit for the recurrence time of 316 days. To further characterise the source, we obtained an optical spectrum during quiescence with SALT. The spectrum exhibited hydrogen Balmer series and helium emission lines, and a flat overall spectral shape. We confirm the nature of the source as an accreting white dwarf which underwent DN outburst based on photometric and spectroscopic properties. This study serves as a proof-of-concept for the TUVO project strategy, demonstrating that it has the capability of discovering and classifying new, interesting UV transients. We also discuss the implications of our findings for our understanding of the physics underlying DN outbursts, in particular with respect to the UV emission. We examine the need for simultaneous UV and optical observations during the onset of DN outbursts in order to help answer remaining questions, for example in the characteristics and implications of the UV delay.

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Section: Sciencementioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Sciencementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: External Archival Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tuvo Proof-of-conceptmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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TUVO-21acq: a new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

Modiano,

Wijnands,

Buckley

et al. 2022

Preprint

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TUVO-21acq: A new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

Modiano

Wijnands

Buckley

et al. 2022

A&A

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Outbursts from cataclysmic variables, such as dwarf novae (DNe), are prevalent throughout the galaxy and are known to emit strongly in the ultraviolet (UV). However, the UV emission of DN outbursts has not been studied extensively compared with the optical. Detailed characterisation of the physical processes responsible for outburst behaviour requires further UV data, because the UV probes the inner regions of the accretion disc. Here we report, as part of our recently launched Transient UV Objects (TUVO) project, the discovery of TUVO-21acq, a new transient which we detected in the UV using data from the Ultraviolet Optical Telescope (UVOT) aboard Swift. We detected two separate outbursts and used the UVOT data to constrain source properties, focusing on the amplitudes and timescales of the outbursts. We found that during the first outburst the source increased in brightness by at least 4.1, 2.4, and 3.5 magnitudes and during the second outburst by 4.4, 3.4, and 3.6 magnitudes in the UVW1, UVM2, and UVW2 bands, respectively. The outburst durations were in the range of 6-21 days and 11-46 days, and we determined an upper limit for the recurrence time of 316 days. To further characterise the source, we obtained an optical spectrum during quiescence with the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT). The spectrum exhibited hydrogen Balmer series and helium emission lines, and a flat overall spectral shape. We confirm the nature of the source as an accreting white dwarf which underwent DN outburst based on photometric and spectroscopic properties. This study serves as a proof of concept for the TUVO project strategy, demonstrating that it has the capability of discovering and classifying new, interesting UV transients. We also discuss the implications of our findings for our understanding of the physics underlying DN outbursts, in particular with respect to the UV emission. We examine the need for simultaneous UV and optical observations during the onset of DN outbursts in order to help answer remaining questions as to the characteristics and implications of the UV delay, for example.

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TUVOpipe: a pipeline to search for UV transients with Swift-UVOT

Cited by 2 publications

References 45 publications

TUVO-21acq: a new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

TUVO-21acq: a new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

TUVO-21acq: A new cataclysmic variable discovered through a UV outburst

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