scholarly journals Optical detection of the rapidly spinning white dwarf in V1460 Her

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ingrid Pelisoli ◽  
R T Marsh ◽  
R P Ashley ◽  
Pasi Hakala ◽  
A Aungwerojwit ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Hubble Space Telescope ◽  
Cataclysmic Variable ◽  
Optical Photometry ◽  
Arrival Times ◽  
Precise Ephemeris ◽  
History Of

Abstract Accreting magnetic white dwarfs offer an opportunity to understand the interplay between spin-up and spin-down torques in binary systems. Monitoring of the white dwarf spin may reveal whether the white dwarf spin is currently in a state of near-equilibrium, or of uni-directional evolution towards longer or shorter periods, reflecting the recent history of the system and providing constraints for evolutionary models. This makes the monitoring of the spin history of magnetic white dwarfs of high interest. In this paper we report the results of a campaign of follow-up optical photometry to detect and track the 39 sec white dwarf spin pulses recently discovered in Hubble Space Telescope data of the cataclysmic variable V1460 Her. We find the spin pulsations to be present in g-band photometry at a typical amplitude of 0.4 per cent. Under favourable observing conditions, the spin signal is detectable using 2-meter class telescopes. We measured pulse-arrival times for all our observations, which allowed us to derive a precise ephemeris for the white dwarf spin. We have also derived an orbital modulation correction that can be applied to the measurements. With our limited baseline of just over four years, we detect no evidence yet for spin-up or spin-down of the white dwarf, obtaining a lower limit of $|P/\dot{P}| > 4\times 10^{7}$ years, which is already 4 to 8 times longer than the timescales measured in two other cataclysmic variable systems containing rapidly rotating white dwarfs, AE Aqr and AR Sco.

scholarly journals Discovery of Non-Radial Pulsations in the White Dwarf Primary of a Cataclysmic Variable Star

1998 ◽  
Vol 185 ◽  
pp. 321-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Warner ◽  
Liza Van Zyl
Keyword(s):  
Surface Layer ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
High Probability ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Variable Star ◽  
Cataclysmic Variable ◽  
Instability Strip ◽  
Rotation Periods ◽  
Radial Pulsations

Non-radial pulsations in isolated white dwarfs have been known for 25 years and it has been shown that the hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs have a high probability of pulsating if they lie in the instability strip with effective temperature between 11500 and 13200 K - the ZZ Ceti stars (e.g. Kepler and Nelan 1993). Analysing techniques developed for such stars allow derivation of masses, luminosities, rotation periods, hydrogen surface layer masses and other properties (e.g. Kepler and Bradley 1995). A number of binary systems are known in which the primary is a white dwarf; dominant in this class are the cataclysmic variable (CV) stars. Until now no CV primary has been found to have non-radial pulsations.

scholarly journals The most massive white dwarfs in the solar neighbourhood

2021 ◽  
Vol 503 (4) ◽  
pp. 5397-5408
Author(s):  
Mukremin Kilic ◽  
P Bergeron ◽  
Simon Blouin ◽  
A Bédard
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Transverse Velocity ◽  
Maximum Mass ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Rapid Rotation ◽  
Rotation Rates ◽  
Binary Mergers ◽  
Chandrasekhar Limit

ABSTRACT We present an analysis of the most massive white dwarf candidates in the Montreal White Dwarf Database 100 pc sample. We identify 25 objects that would be more massive than $1.3\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$ if they had pure H atmospheres and CO cores, including two outliers with unusually high photometric mass estimates near the Chandrasekhar limit. We provide follow-up spectroscopy of these two white dwarfs and show that they are indeed significantly below this limit. We expand our model calculations for CO core white dwarfs up to M = 1.334 M⊙, which corresponds to the high-density limit of our equation-of-state tables, ρ = 109 g cm−3. We find many objects close to this maximum mass of our CO core models. A significant fraction of ultramassive white dwarfs are predicted to form through binary mergers. Merger populations can reveal themselves through their kinematics, magnetism, or rapid rotation rates. We identify four outliers in transverse velocity, four likely magnetic white dwarfs (one of which is also an outlier in transverse velocity), and one with rapid rotation, indicating that at least 8 of the 25 ultramassive white dwarfs in our sample are likely merger products.

scholarly journals The Luminosity Function of White Dwarfs in the Local Disk and Halo

1989 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 15-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
James Liebert ◽  
Conard C. Dahn ◽  
David G. Monet
Keyword(s):  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Luminosity Function ◽  
Solar Neighborhood ◽  
Star Formation History ◽  
Empirical Estimates ◽  
Formation History ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cool White Dwarfs ◽  
Local Disk

The luminosity function (LF) and total space density of white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood contain important information about the star formation history of the stellar population, and provide an independent method of measuring its age. The first empirical estimates of the LF for degenerate stars were those of Weidemann (1967), Kovetz and Shaviv (1976) and Sion and Liebert (1977). The follow-up investigations made possible by the huge Luyten Palomar proper motion surveys, however, added many more faint white dwarfs to the known sample. While the number of known cool white dwarfs grew to nearly one hundred, these did not include any that were much fainter intrinsically than the coolest degenerates found from the early Luyten, van Biesbroeck and Eggen-Greenstein lists.

scholarly journals The Search for Close Binary Evolved Stars

1989 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 408-412
Author(s):  
Rex A. Saffer ◽  
James Liebert
Keyword(s):  
Binary System ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Close Binary ◽  
Brown Dwarf ◽  
Null Results ◽  
Spectroscopic Observations ◽  
Evolved Stars ◽  
Short Period

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.

scholarly journals A magnetic white dwarf with five H α components

2019 ◽  
Vol 489 (3) ◽  
pp. 3648-3654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mukremin Kilic ◽  
B Rolland ◽  
P Bergeron ◽  
Z Vanderbosch ◽  
P Benni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Surface Composition ◽  
Degenerate System ◽  
Inhomogeneous Surface ◽  
Optical Photometry ◽  
Photometric Variability ◽  
Rotational Modulation ◽  
Complex Magnetic Field

ABSTRACT G183−35 is an unusual white dwarf that shows an H α line split into five components, instead of the usual three components seen in strongly magnetic white dwarfs. Potential explanations for the unusual set of lines include a double degenerate system containing two magnetic white dwarfs and/or rotational modulation of a complex magnetic field structure. Here, we present time-resolved spectroscopy of G183−35 obtained at the Gemini Observatory. These data reveal two sets of absorption lines that appear and disappear over a period of about 4 h. We also detect low-level (0.2 per cent) variability in optical photometry at the same period. We demonstrate that the spectroscopic and photometric variability can be explained by the presence of spots on the surface of the white dwarf and a change in the average field strength from about 4.6 to 6.2 MG. The observed variability is clearly due to G183−35’s relatively short spin period. However, rotational modulation of a complex magnetic field by itself cannot explain the changes seen in the central H α component. An additional source of variability in the line profiles, most likely due to a chemically inhomogeneous surface composition, is also needed. We propose further observations of similar objects to test this scenario.

scholarly journals The Effective Temperature Distribution Function of Cataclysmic Variable White Dwarfs

1987 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
E.M. Sion
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Function ◽  
Temperature Distribution ◽  
Orbital Period ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Cataclysmic Variables ◽  
Cataclysmic Variable ◽  
Term Evolution ◽  
Effective Temperatures

AbstractWith the recent detection of direct white dwarf photospheric radiation from certain cataclysmic variables in quiescent (low accretion) states, important implications and clues about the nature and long-term evolution of cataclysmic variables can emerge from an analysis of their physical properties. Detection of the underlying white dwarfs has led to a preliminary empirical CV white dwarf temperature distribution function and, in a few cases, the first detailed look at a freshly accreted while dwarf photosphere. The effective temperatures of CV white dwarfs plotted versus orbital period for each type of CV appears to reveal a tendency for the cooler white dwarf primaries to reside in the shorter period systems. Possible implications are briefly discussed.

scholarly journals Nucleosynthesis During Nova Explosions and Grain Formations in Ejected Envelopes

1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 533-533
Author(s):  
Masayuki Y. Fujimoto
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Thermal Emission ◽  
Finite Amplitude ◽  
Close Binary ◽  
Close Binary Systems

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.

scholarly journals White Dwarfs in Cataclysmic Binaries

1979 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 417-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Warner
Keyword(s):  
Direct Measurement ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
Proper Motion ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Wide Binary ◽  
Trigonometric Parallax ◽  
Select Group ◽  
Cataclysmic Binaries

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.

scholarly journals Gaia white dwarfs within 40 pc II: the volume-limited Northern hemisphere sample

2020 ◽  
Vol 499 (2) ◽  
pp. 1890-1908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack McCleery ◽  
Pier-Emmanuel Tremblay ◽  
Nicola Pietro Gentile Fusillo ◽  
Mark A Hollands ◽  
Boris T Gänsicke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Hemisphere ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Binary Systems ◽  
Mass Range ◽  
Wide Binary ◽  
William Herschel ◽  
Initial Selection ◽  
Gaia Dr2 ◽  
Kinematic Properties

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.

scholarly journals An Example Demonstrating the Potential for Asteroseismology of DB White Dwarf Stars

1993 ◽  
Vol 139 ◽  
pp. 116-116
Author(s):  
P.A. Bradley ◽  
M.A. Wood
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Stellar Evolution ◽  
White Dwarf ◽  
White Dwarfs ◽  
Galactic Disk ◽  
Helium Surface ◽  
Dwarf Stars ◽  
University Of Texas ◽  
White Dwarf Stars ◽  
History Of

AbstractWe present the results of a parametric survey of evolutionary models of compositionally stratified white dwarfs with helium surface layers (DB white dwarfs). Because white dwarfs are the most common final end state of stellar evolution, determining their internal structure will offer us many clues about stellar evolution, the physics of matter under extreme conditions, plus the history of star formation and age of the local Galactic disk. As a first step towards determining the internal structure of DB white dwarf stars, we provide a comprehensive set of theoretical g-mode pulsation periods for comparison to observations.Because DB white dwarfs have a layered structure consisting of a helium layer overlying the carbon/oxygen core, some modes will have the same wavelength as the thickness of the helium layer, allowing a resonance to form. This resonance is called mode trapping (see Brassard et al. 1992 and references therein) and has directly observable consequences, because modes at or near the resonance have eigenfunctions and pulsation periods that are similar to each other. This results in much smaller period spacings between consecutive overtone modes of the same spherical harmonic index than the uniform period spacings seen between non-trapped modes. We demonstrate with an example how one can use the distribution of pulsation periods to determine the total stellar mass, the mass of the helium surface layer, and the extent of the helium/carbon and carbon/oxygen transition zones. With these tools, we have the prospect of being able to determine the structure of the observed DBV white dwarfs, once the requisite observations become available.We are grateful to C.J. Hansen, S.D. Kawaler, R.E. Nather, and D.E. Winget for their encouragement and many discussions. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants 85-52457 and 90-14655 through the University of Texas and McDonald Observatory.

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