SDSS 1507+02: A Halo Cataclysmic Variable?

Abstract

We report a photometric and spectroscopic study of the peculiar cataclysmic variable SDSS 1507+52. The star shows very deep eclipses on the 67 minute orbital period, and those eclipses are easily separable into white-dwarf and hot-spot components. This leads to tight constraints on binary parameters, with M_1=0.83(8) solar masses, M_2=0.057(8) solar masses, R_1=0.0097(9) solar radii, R_2=0.097(4) solar radii, q=0.069(2), and i=83.18(13) degrees. Such numbers suggest possible membership among the WZ Sge stars, a common type of dwarf nova. The spectroscopic behavior (strong and broad H emission, double-peaked and showing a classic rotational disturbance during eclipse) is also typical. But the star's orbital period is shockingly below the "period minimum" of approximately 77 min which is characteristic of hydrogen-rich CVs; producing such a strange binary will require some tinkering with the theory of cataclysmic-variable evolution. The proper motion is also remarkably high for a star of its distance, which we estimate from photometry and trigonometric parallax as 230 +- 40 pc. This suggests a transverse velocity of 164 +- 30 km/s - uncomfortably high if the star belongs to a Galactic-disk population. These difficulties with understanding its evolution and space velocity can be solved if the star belongs to a Galactic-halo population.