A Systematic Search for Main-sequence Dipper Stars Using the Zwicky Transient Facility

Abstract Main-sequence dipper stars, characterized by irregular and often aperiodic luminosity dimming events, offer a unique opportunity to explore the variability of circumstellar material and its potential links to planet formation, debris disks, and broadly star–planet interactions. The advent of all-sky time-domain surveys has enabled the rapid discovery of these unique systems. We present the results of a large systematic search for main-sequence dipper stars, conducted across a sample of 63 million FGK main-sequence stars using data from Gaia eDR3 and the Zwicky Transient Facility survey. Using a novel light-curve scoring algorithm and a scalable workflow tailored for analyzing millions of light curves, we have identified 81 new dipper star candidates. Our sample reveals a diverse phenomenology of light-curve dimming shapes, such as skewed and symmetric dimmings with timescales spanning days to years, some of which closely resemble exaggerated versions of KIC 8462852. Our sample reveals no clear periodicity patterns in many of these dippers and no IR excess or variability. Using archival data collated for this study, we thoroughly investigate several classification scenarios and hypothesize that the mechanisms of such dimming events are either driven by circumstellar clumps or occultations by stellar/substellar companions with disks. Our study marks a significant step forward in understanding main-sequence dipper stars.