scholarly journals The Evolutionary Evidence for Most Be Stars Being Paired with Hot White Dwarfs

2000 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 693-696
Author(s):  
Natalya V. Raguzova

AbstractUsing the “Scenario Machine” we study the number and physical properties of binary Be stars with white dwarfs taking into account cooling of the compact object and discuss the formation of such systems. According to our calculations the number of binary systems containing a Be star paired with a white dwarf in our galaxy is very large − 46% of all Be stars formed as a result of binary evolution must have a white dwarf as companion. These white dwarfs should be very hot with a surface temperature lying in the range from 30,000 to 60,000 K.

2018 ◽  
Vol 618 ◽  
pp. A110 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bodensteiner ◽  
D. Baade ◽  
J. Greiner ◽  
N. Langer

Context. Recent studies show that more than 70% of massive stars do not evolve as effectively single stars, but as members of interacting binary systems. The evolution of these stars is thus strongly altered compared to similar but isolated objects. Aims. We investigate the occurrence of parsec-scale mid-infrared nebulae around early-type stars. If they exist over a wide range of stellar properties, one possible overarching explanation is non-conservative mass transfer in binary interactions, or stellar mergers. Methods. For ∼3850 stars (all OBA stars in the Bright Star Catalogue (BSC), Be stars, BeXRBs, and Be+sdO systems), we visually inspect WISE 22 μm images. Based on nebular shape and relative position, we distinguish five categories: offset bow shocks structurally aligned with the stellar space velocity, unaligned offset bow shocks, and centered, unresolved, and not classified nebulae. Results. In the BSC, we find that 28%, 13%, and 0.4% of all O, B, and A stars, respectively, possess associated infrared (IR) nebulae. Additionally, 34/234 Be stars, 4/72 BeXRBs, and 3/17 Be+sdO systems are associated with IR nebulae. Conclusions. Aligned or unaligned bow shocks result from high relative velocities between star and interstellar medium (ISM) that are dominated by the star or the ISM, respectively. About 13% of the centered nebulae could be bow shocks seen head- or tail-on. For the rest, the data disfavor explanations as remains of parental disks, supernova remnants of a previous companion, and dust production in stellar winds. The existence of centered nebulae also at high Galactic latitudes strongly limits the global risk of coincidental alignments with condensations in the ISM. Mass loss during binary evolution seems a viable mechanism for the formation of at least some of these nebulae. In total, about 29% of the IR nebulae (2% of all OBA stars in the BSC) may find their explanation in the context of binary evolution.


2000 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 656-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Coe

AbstractThis paper will review the status of our observations and understanding of Be stars in X-ray binary systems. In virtually all cases the binary partner to the Be star is a neutron star. The circumstellar disk provides the accretion fuel and hence stimulates the X-ray emission, whilst the neutron star provides a valuable probe of the environment around the Be star. The results coming from studies of such systems are helping in our understanding of the Be phenomenon.


1989 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 408-412
Author(s):  
Rex A. Saffer ◽  
James Liebert

AbstractWe report on a search for short-period binary systems composed of pairs of evolved stars. The search is being carried out concurrently with a program to characterize the kinematical properties of two different samples of stars. Each sample has produced one close binary candidate for which further spectroscopic observations are planned. We also recapitulate the discovery of a close detached binary system composed of two cool DA white dwarfs, and we discuss the null results of Hα observations of the suspected white dwarf/brown dwarf system G 29–38.


1987 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 516-518
Author(s):  
Krishna M.V. Apparao ◽  
S.P. Tarafdar

Several Be stars are identified with bright X-ray sources. (Rappaport and Van den Heuvel, 1982). The bright X-ray emission and observed periodicities indicate the existence of compact objects (white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes) near the Be stars. A prime example is the brightest X-ray source A0538-66 in LMC, which contains a neutron star with a rotation period of 59 ms. Apparao (1985) explained the X-ray emission, which occurs in periodic flares, by considering an inclined eccentric orbit for the neutron star around the assumed Be-star. The neutron star when it enters a gas ring (around the Be-star) accreting matter giving out X-rays.The X-ray emission from the compact objects, when the gas ring from the Be-star envelopes the objects, has interesting consequences. The X-ray emission produces an ionized region (compact object Stromgren sphere or COSS) in the gas surrounding the compact object (CO).


1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 533-533
Author(s):  
Masayuki Y. Fujimoto

Recent observations have revealed the existence of infrared brightening in some nova explosions, and its absence in others. These infrared excesses are ascribed to thermal emission from grains which are considered to consist of graphite. Such nova explosions are widely accepted to be triggered by hydrogen shell-flashes on the surface of white dwarfs which accrete matter in close binary systems. As for the hydrogen shell-flash, recently, a general theory applicable even to the case of finite amplitude has been developed. According to this theory, the progress of a shell-flash is determined only by the mass of the white dwarf MWD and the mass of the accreted hydrogen-rich envelope ΔMH.


1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 417-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Warner

For isolated stars, identification as a white dwarf may be effected in several ways. The fundamental property of abnormally low luminosity can be detected through direct measurement of trigonometric parallax or indirectly through large proper motion (accompanied by appropriate photometric properties). The presence of greatly pressure broadened absorption lines is another unambiguous criterion. Rapid light oscillations of the kind reviewed by Robinson are another hallmark of a select group of white dwarfs. Any or all of these criteria may be used to classify a star as a white dwarf and in general can be applied to members of wide binary systems.


2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (2) ◽  
pp. 1890-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack McCleery ◽  
Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay ◽  
Nicola Pietro Gentile Fusillo ◽  
Mark A Hollands ◽  
Boris T Gänsicke ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT We present an overview of the sample of Northern hemisphere white dwarfs within 40 pc of the Sun detected from Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2). We find that 521 sources are spectroscopically confirmed degenerate stars, 111 of which were first identified as white dwarf candidates from Gaia DR2 and followed up recently with the William Herschel Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias. Three additional white dwarf candidates remain spectroscopically unobserved and six unresolved binaries are known to include a white dwarf but were not in our initial selection in the Gaia DR2 Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. Atmospheric parameters are calculated from Gaia and Pan-STARRS photometry for all objects in the sample, confirming most of the trends previously observed in the much smaller 20 pc sample. Local white dwarfs are overwhelmingly consistent with Galactic disc kinematics, with only four halo candidates. We find that DAZ white dwarfs are significantly less massive than the overall DA population ($\overline{M}_\mathrm{DAZ}$ = 0.59 M⊙, $\overline{M}_\mathrm{DA}$ = 0.66 M⊙). It may suggest that planet formation is less efficient at higher mass stars, producing more massive white dwarfs. We detect a sequence of crystallized white dwarfs in the mass range from 0.6 $\lesssim M/\mbox{$\mathrm{M}_\odot $}\ \lesssim$ 1.0 and find that the vast majority of objects on the sequence have standard kinematic properties that correspond to the average of the sample, suggesting that their nature can be explained by crystallization alone. We also detect 26 double degenerates and white dwarf components in 56 wide binary systems.


2000 ◽  
Vol 175 ◽  
pp. 668-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas R. Gies

AbstractModels of close binary evolution predict that mass gainers will be spun up to speeds close to the critical rotational velocity while the mass donors will appear as stripped down He stars, white dwarfs, or neutron stars. I argue here that the mass gainers are closely related to the Be stars. I present a list of the known Be binary systems which consists of those with bright, Roche-filling companions and those with faint or undetected companions. Notably absent are Be + B systems which are expected if the Be phase is a stage in the life of a single star. We now have the first example of a Be + He star system in the binary, ϕ Per, and taken together with the well known Be X-ray binaries, there is clear evidence that some fraction of Be stars are created in binaries; whether all such rapid rotators are so formed remains unknown.


2002 ◽  
Vol 185 ◽  
pp. 608-609
Author(s):  
G. Handler ◽  
M.A. Wood ◽  
A. Nitta ◽  

The origin of the helium-atmosphere DB white dwarfs is still a matter of debate. In particular, the question is unresolved whether binary evolution produces a significant number of DBs. The pulsating DB white dwarfs (DBV stars) offer a complementary insight into this problem through asteroseismology; DBs descending from binaries will have different interior structures than DBs originating from single stars (Nitta & Winget, 1998).GD 358 is by far the best-observed pulsating DBV star, and the only one for which asteroseismology has been performed to date. This star’s structure has been shown to be inconsistent with an origin from binary evolution (Nitta & Winget, 1998), but most of the other DBVs are relatively poorly studied.We therefore analysed archival data on all DBVs and obtained new measurements of stars with very little data available (Table 1), firstly to identify suitable targets for asteroseismological investigations and secondly to examine the pulsation spectra of the DBVs as a group, following the works of Clemens (1994) and Kleinman (1995) on the pulsating DA white dwarfs. Our study also produced new seismological results on individual stars and promising targets for future Whole Earth Telescope (WET, Nather et al., 1990) runs.


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 601-611
Author(s):  
John T. McGraw

The DA white dwarfs are those which show only the Stark-broadened lines of hydrogen in their spectra. They comprise about 80% of the total white dwarf population. A subset of the DA dwarfs, the ZZ Ceti stars, form a highly homogeneous class of nonradially pulsating variable stars. In this paper we shall review the observations from which both the physical properties of the stars and the characteristics of the pulsations have been derived. Data obtained since the last review of these variables (Robinson 1979) is stressed, as these data are forcing a somewhat revised understanding of the ZZ Ceti stars and their relationship to investigations of white dwarfs and to pulsating variable stars, in general.


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