COBIPLANE: A Systematic Search for Compact Binary Millisecond Pulsars at Low Galactic Latitudes

Abstract

We present the main results obtained from the COmpact BInary Pulsar search in the low-LAtitude NEighborhood (COBIPLANE), an optical photometric survey designed to find new `spider' binary millisecond pulsars. We conducted observations targeting 30 unidentified sources from the 4FGL-DR3 Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT) catalog, selected for their pulsar-like $\gamma$-ray properties. Extending to Galactic latitudes as low as $\pm3^{\circ}$, this survey reaches closer to the Galactic plane than its predecessor survey, the COmpact BInary PULsar SEarch (COBIPULSE). We report the discovery of five optical variables coincident with the localizations of 4FGL J0821.5-1436, 4FGL J1517.9-5233, 4FGL J1639.3-5146, 4FGL J1748.8-3915, and 4FGL J2056.4+3142. These systems show optical flux modulation at the presumed orbital periods of $0.41576(6) \ \mathrm{d}$, $0.305(2) \ \mathrm{d}$, $0.204(7) \ \mathrm{d}$, $0.3(2) \ \mathrm{d}$, and $0.4395(1) \ \mathrm{d}$, respectively, and photometric temperatures of $4000$--$6000 \ \mathrm{K}$, consistent with the companion stars of `redback' subtype of spider pulsar binaries. Based on their optical light curve shapes and X-ray properties characteristic for spider systems -- namely, a luminosity of $1.5 \times 10^{32} \ (D / 3.9 \ \mathrm{kpc})^2 \ \mathrm{erg} \ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ ($0.3$--$10 \ \mathrm{keV}$) for 4FGL J1748.8-3915, and upper limits of $\sim10^{31}$--$10^{33} \ \mathrm{erg} \ \mathrm{s}^{-1}$ ($0.2$--$12 \ \mathrm{keV}$) for the others -- we classify these sources as new spider candidate systems.