Abstract
This paper presents combined Spitzer IRAC and Hubble COS results for a double-blind survey of 195 single and 22 wide binary white dwarfs for infrared excesses and atmospheric metals. The ...selection criteria include cooling ages in the range 9 to 300 Myr, and hydrogen-rich atmospheres so that the presence of atmospheric metals can be confidently linked to ongoing accretion from a circumstellar disc. The entire sample has infrared photometry, whereas 168 targets have corresponding ultraviolet spectra. Three stars with infrared excesses due to debris discs are recovered, yielding a nominal frequency of $1.5_{-0.5}^{+1.5}$ per cent, while in stark contrast, the fraction of stars with atmospheric metals is 45 ± 4 per cent. Thus, only one out of 30 polluted white dwarfs exhibits an infrared excess at 3–4 $\mu$m in IRAC photometry, which reinforces the fact that atmospheric metal pollution is the most sensitive tracer of white dwarf planetary systems. The corresponding fraction of infrared excesses around white dwarfs with wide binary companions is consistent with zero, using both the infrared survey data and an independent assessment of potential binarity for well-established dusty and polluted stars. In contrast, the frequency of atmospheric pollution among the targets in wide binaries is indistinct from apparently single stars, and moreover the multiplicity of polluted white dwarfs in a complete and volume-limited sample is the same as for field stars. Therefore, it appears that the delivery of planetesimal material on to white dwarfs is ultimately not driven by stellar companions, but by the dynamics of planetary bodies.
ABSTRACT
Nine metal-polluted white dwarfs are observed with medium-resolution optical spectroscopy, where photospheric abundances are determined and interpreted by comparison with Solar system ...objects. An improved method for making such comparisons is presented, which overcomes potential weaknesses of prior analyses, with numerous sources of error considered to highlight the limitations on interpretation. The stars are inferred to be accreting rocky, volatile-poor asteroidal materials with origins in differentiated bodies, in line with the consensus model. The most heavily polluted star in the sample has 14 metals detected, and appears to be accreting material from a rocky planetesimal, whose composition is mantle-like with a small Fe–Ni core component. Some unusual abundances are present. One star is strongly depleted in Ca, while two others show Na abundances elevated above bulk-Earth abundances; it is speculated that either the latter reflect diversity in the formation conditions of the source material, or they are traces of past accretion events. Another star shows clear signs that accretion ceased around 5 Myr ago, causing Mg to dominate the photospheric abundances, as it has the longest diffusion time of the observed elements. Observing such post-accretion systems allows constraints to be placed on models of the accretion process.
We present time-series spectra revealing changes in the circumstellar line profiles for the white dwarf WD 1145 + 017. Over the course of 2.2 years, the spectra show complete velocity reversals in ...the circumstellar absorption, moving from strongly redshifted in 2015 April to strongly blueshifted in 2017 June. The depth of the absorption also varies, increasing by a factor of two over the same period. The dramatic changes in the line profiles are consistent with eccentric circumstellar gas rings undergoing general relativistic precession. As the argument of periapsis of the rings changes relative to the line of sight, the transiting gas shifts from receding in 2016 to approaching in 2017. Based on the precession timescales in the favored model, we make predictions for the line profiles over the next few years. Spectroscopic monitoring of WD 1145 + 017 will test these projections and aid in developing more accurate white dwarf accretion disk models.
Abstract Dynamically active planetary systems orbit a significant fraction of white dwarf stars. These stars often exhibit surface metals accreted from debris disks, which are detected through ...infrared excess or transiting structures. However, the full journey of a planetesimal from star-grazing orbit to final dissolution in the host star is poorly understood. Here, we report the discovery that the cool metal-polluted star WD 0816–310 has cannibalized heavy elements from a planetary body similar in size to Vesta, and where accretion and horizontal mixing processes have clearly been controlled by the stellar magnetic field. Our observations unveil periodic and synchronized variations in metal line strength and magnetic field intensity, implying a correlation between the local surface density of metals and the magnetic field structure. Specifically, the data point to a likely persistent concentration of metals near a magnetic pole. These findings demonstrate that magnetic fields may play a fundamental role in the final stages of exoplanetary bodies that are recycled into their white dwarf hosts.
ABSTRACT
WD J204713.76–125908.9 is a new addition to the small class of white dwarfs with helium-dominated photospheres that exhibit strong Balmer absorption lines and atmospheric metal pollution. ...The exceptional abundances of hydrogen observed in these stars may be the result of accretion of water-rich rocky bodies. We obtained far-ultraviolet and optical spectroscopy of WD J204713.76–125908.9 using the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph on-board the Hubble Space Telescope and X-shooter on the Very Large Telescope, and identify photospheric absorption lines of nine metals: C, O, Mg, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe, and Ni. The abundance ratios are consistent with the steady-state accretion of exo-planetesimal debris rich in the volatile elements carbon and oxygen, and the transitional element sulphur, by factors of 17, 2, and 4, respectively, compared to the bulk Earth. The parent body has a composition akin to Solar system carbonaceous chondrites, and the inferred minimum mass, 1.6 × 1020 g, is comparable to an asteroid 23 km in radius. We model the composition of the disrupted parent body, finding from our simulations a median water mass fraction of 8 per cent.
The most heavily polluted white dwarfs often show excess infrared radiation from circumstellar dust disks, which are modeled as a result of tidal disruption of extrasolar minor planets. Interaction ...of dust, gas, and disintegrating objects can all contribute to the dynamical evolution of these dust disks. Here, we report two infrared variable dusty white dwarfs, SDSS J1228+1040 and G29-38. For SDSS J1228+1040, compared to the first measurements in 2007, the IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 fluxes decreased by 20% before 2014 to a level also seen in the recent 2018 observations. For G29-38, the infrared flux of the 10 m silicate emission feature became 10% stronger between 2004 and 2007, We explore several scenarios that could account for these changes, including tidal disruption events, perturbation from a companion, and runaway accretion. No satisfactory causes are found for the flux drop in SDSS J1228+1040 due to the limited time coverage. Continuous tidal disruption of small planetesimals could increase the mass of small grains and concurrently change the strength of the 10 m feature of G29-38. Dust disks around white dwarfs are actively evolving and we speculate that there could be different mechanisms responsible for the temporal changes of these disks.
Abstract White dwarf stars are ubiquitous in the Galaxy, and are essential to understanding stellar evolution. While most white dwarfs are photometrically stable and reliable flux standards, some can ...be highly variable, which can reveal unique details about the endpoints of low-mass stellar evolution. In this study, we characterize a sample of high-confidence white dwarfs with multi-epoch photometry from Gaia Data Release 3. We compare these Gaia light curves with light curves from the Zwicky Transiting Facility and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to see when Gaia data independently can accurately measure periods of variability. From this sample, 105 objects have variability periods measured from the Gaia light curves independently, with periods as long as roughly 9.5 days and as short as 256.2 s (roughly 4 minutes), including seven systems with periods shorter than 1000 s. We discover 86 new objects from the 105 target samples, including pulsating, spotted, and binary white dwarfs, and even a new 68.4 minute eclipsing cataclysmic variable. The median amplitude of the absolute photometric variability we confirm from Gaia independently is 1.4%, demonstrating that Gaia epoch photometry is capable of measuring short-term periods even when observations are sparse.
Abstract Archival data from the WISE satellite reveal infrared flux variations of tens of per cent around numerous dusty white dwarfs. Data spanning more than 7 yr reveal more than half of known ...systems are varying in the 3.4 ${\mu}$m band, while the 4.6 ${\mu}$m data are challenging to interpret due to lower signal-to-noise ratios. The sparsely-sampled data limit interpretation, but the heterogeneous light curves suggest each source may be idiosyncratic, where there may be competing processes operating on different time-scales. Collisions are likely driving the observed decays in flux, and this finding suggests that dust production is operating more often than indicated by previous observations. The observed variation is at odds with the canonical flat disc model in isolation, and underscores the need for infrared monitoring of these evolved planetary systems to inform the next generation of theoretical models.
ABSTRACT
This letter reports the first detection of a periodic light curve whose modulation is unambiguously due to rotation in a polluted white dwarf. TESS observations of WD 2138−332, at a distance ...of 16.1 pc, reveal a 0.39 per cent amplitude modulation with a 6.19 h period. While this rotation is relatively rapid for isolated white dwarfs, it falls within the range of spin periods common to those with detectable magnetic fields, where WD 2138−332 is notably both metal-rich and weakly magnetic. Within the local 20 pc volume of white dwarfs, multisector TESS data find no significant periodicities among the remaining 16 polluted objects (five of which are also magnetic), whereas six of 23 magnetic and metal-free targets have light curves consistent with rotation periods between 0.7 and 35 h (three of which are new discoveries). This indicates the variable light curve of WD 2138−332 is primarily a result of magnetism, as opposed to an inhomogeneous distribution of metals. From 13 magnetic and metallic degenerates with acceptable TESS data, a single detection of periodicity suggests that polluted white dwarfs are not rotating as rapidly as their magnetic counterparts, and planet ingestion is thus unlikely to be a significant channel for rapid rotation.
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