BPM 46714: a nearby K-dwarf binary with variable hot circumbinary dust — candidate identification from NEOWISE, Gaia, TESS and APOGEE archives

Candidate identification of BPM 46714 (Gaia DR3 2342601748810281088), a K5–K6 dwarf at 100 pc, as a close binary (P = 0.2928 d photometric; Gaia radial-velocity amplitude 140 km/s; APOGEE single-lined, vsini 39 km/s; companion ≥0.9 solar masses if tidally locked, i.e. a probable white dwarf) with a ~1300 K circumbinary dust component carrying ~1% of the stellar luminosity, whose 3.4 and 4.6 µm emission varied by 0.15 and 0.23 mag over 2010–2024 in WISE/NEOWISE while 33 same-brightness field stars processed identically showed no variability. The package contains the five-page report, epoch photometry, control-star statistics, the ASAS (2001–09), ASAS-SN (2014–18) and ZTF (2018–25) optical light curves, the APOGEE DR17 records, and all figures. Analysis performed by the author with an AI assistant (Claude, Anthropic) using public archives only. Status: candidate, pending spectroscopic confirmation.