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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

I Spy Transits and Pulsations: Empirical Variability in White Dwarfs Using Gaia and the Zwicky Transient Facility

We present a novel method to detect variable astrophysical objects and transient phenomena using anomalous excess scatter in repeated measurements from public catalogs of Gaia DR2 and Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) DR3 photometry. We first provide a generalized, all-sky proxy for variability using only Gaia DR2 photometry, calibrated to white dwarf stars. To ensure more robust candidate detection, we further employ a method combining Gaia with ZTF photometry and alerts. To demonstrate its efficacy, we apply this latter technique to a sample of roughly 12,100 white dwarfs within 200 pc centered on the ZZ Ceti instability strip, where hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs are known to pulsate. Here, by inspecting the top 1% of the samples ranked by these methods, we demonstrate that both the Gaia-only and ZTF-informed techniques are highly effective at identifying known and new variable white dwarfs, which we verify using follow-up, high-speed photometry. We confirm variability in all 33 out of 33 (100%) observed white dwarfs within our top 1% highest-ranked candidates, both inside and outside the ZZ Ceti instability strip. In addition to dozens of new pulsating white dwarfs, we also identify five white dwarfs highly likely to show transiting planetary debris; if confirmed, these systems would more than triple the number of white dwarfs known to host transiting debris.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Phase Separation in Ultramassive White Dwarfs

We report ultramassive white dwarfs are extreme endpoints of stellar evolution. Recent findings, such as a missing multi-Gyr cooling delay for a number of ultramassive white dwarfs and a white dwarf with a quasi-Chandrasekhar mass, motivate a better understanding of their evolution. A key process still subject to important uncertainties is the crystallization of their dense cores, which are generally assumed to be constituted of 16 O, 20 Ne, and a mixture of several trace elements (most notably 23 Na and 24 Mg). In this work, we use our recently developed Clapeyron integration technique to compute accurate phase diagrams of three-component mixtures relevant to the modeling of O/Ne ultramassive white dwarfs. We show that, unlike the phase separation of 22 Ne impurities in C/O cores, the phase separation of 23 Na impurities in O/Ne white dwarfs cannot lead to the enrichment of their cores in 23 Na via a distillation process. This severely limits the prospect of transporting large quantities of 23 Na toward the center of the star, as needed in the white dwarf core-collapse mechanism recently proposed by Caiazzo et al. We also show that despite representing ≈10% of the ionic mixture, 23 Na and 24 Mg impurities only have a negligible impact on the O/Ne phase diagram, and the two-component O/Ne phase diagram can be safely used in white dwarf evolution codes. We provide analytic fits to our high-accuracy O/Ne phase diagram for implementation in white dwarf models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

2013 White Book, Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (summary)

The 2013 Pacific Northwest Loads and Resources Study (2013 White Book) is BPA's latest projection of the Pacific Northwest regional retail loads, contract obligations, contract purchases, and resource capabilities. The 2013 White Book is a snapshot of conditions as of October 1, 2013, documenting the loads and resources for the Federal system and region for the 10-year study period OY 2014 through 2023. The White Book contains projections of regional and Federal system load and resource capabilities, along with relevant definitions and explanations. The White Book also contains information obtained from formalized resource planning reports and data submittals including those from individual utilities, the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (Council), and the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee (PNUCC). Starting with the 2012 White Book, BPA changed the annual production schedule for future White Books. BPA is scheduled to publish a complete White Book, which includes a Federal System Needs Assessment analysis, every other year (even years). In the odd-numbered years, BPA will publish a biennial summary update (Supplement) that only contains major changes to the Federal System and Regional System analyses that have occurred since the last White Book. http://www.bpa.gov/power/pgp/whitebook/2013/index.shtml.

bonneville↗
DOE OSTI2015

White light emission and effect of annealing on the Ho{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+} codoped BaCa{sub 2}Al{sub 8}O{sub 15} phosphor

Graphical abstract: The upconversion emission spectra of the Ho{sup 3+}/Yb{sup 3+} doped/codoped BaCa{sub 2}Al{sub 8}O{sub 15} phosphors with different doping concentrations of Ho{sup 3+}/Yb{sup 3+} ions along with UC emission spectrum of the white light emitting phosphor annealed at 800 °C. - Highlights: • BaCa{sub 2}Al{sub 8}O{sub 15} phosphors codoped with Ho{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+} have been prepared by combustion method. • Phosphor annealed at 800 °C, illuminate an intense white light upon NIR excitation. • The sample annealed at higher temperatures emits in the pure green region. • The colour emitted persists in the white region even at high pump power density. • Developed phosphor is suitable for making upconverters and WLEDs. - Abstract: The BaCa{sub 2}Al{sub 8}O{sub 15} (BCAO) phosphors codoped with suitable Ho{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+} dopant concentration prepared by combustion method illuminate an intense white light upon near infrared diode laser excitation. The structural analysis of the phosphors and the detection of impurity contents have been performed by using the X-Ray Diffraction, FESEM and FTIR analysis. The purity of white light emitted from the sample has been confirmed by the CIE chromaticity diagram. Also, the white light emitted from the sample persists with the variation of pump power density. The phosphors emit upconversion (UC) emission bands in the blue, green and red region (three primary colours required for white light emission) along with one more band in the near infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. On annealing the white light emitting sample at higher temperatures, the sample starts to emit green colour and also the intensity of green and red UC emission bands get enhanced largely.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

A measurement of the equation of state of carbon envelopes of white dwarfs

White dwarfs represent the final state of evolution for most stars. Certain classes of white dwarfs pulsate, leading to observable brightness variations, and analysis of these variations with theoretical stellar models probes their internal structure. Modelling of these pulsating stars provides stringent tests of white dwarf models and a detailed picture of the outcome of the late stages of stellar evolution. However, the high-energy-density states that exist in white dwarfs are extremely difficult to reach and to measure in the laboratory, so theoretical predictions are largely untested at these conditions. In this paper we report measurements of the relationship between pressure and density along the principal shock Hugoniot (equations describing the state of the sample material before and after the passage of the shock derived from conservation laws) of hydrocarbon to within five per cent. The observed maximum compressibility is consistent with theoretical models that include detailed electronic structure. This is relevant for the equation of state of matter at pressures ranging from 100 million to 450 million atmospheres, where the understanding of white dwarf physics is sensitive to the equation of state and where models differ considerably. The measurements test these equation-of-state relations that are used in the modelling of white dwarfs and inertial confinement fusion experiments, and we predict an increase in compressibility due to ionization of the inner-core orbitals of carbon. We also find that a detailed treatment of the electronic structure and the electron degeneracy pressure is required to capture the measured shape of the pressure–density evolution for hydrocarbon before peak compression. Our results illuminate the equation of state of the white dwarf envelope (the region surrounding the stellar core that contains partially ionized and partially degenerate non-ideal plasmas), which is a weak link in the constitutive physics informing the structure and evolution of white dwarf stars.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

No evidence for a strong decrease of planetesimal accretion in old white dwarfs

ABSTRACT A large fraction of white dwarfs are accreting or have recently accreted rocky material from their planetary systems, thereby ‘polluting’ their atmospheres with elements heavier than helium. In recent years, the quest for mechanisms that can deliver planetesimals to the immediate vicinity of their central white dwarfs has stimulated a flurry of modelling efforts. The observed time evolution of the accretion rates of white dwarfs through their multi-Gyr lifetime is a crucial test for dynamical models of evolved planetary systems. Recent studies of cool white dwarf samples have identified a significant decrease of the mass accretion rates of cool, old white dwarfs over Gyr time-scales. Here, we revisit those results using updated white dwarf models and larger samples of old polluted H- and He-atmosphere white dwarfs. We find no compelling evidence for a strong decrease of their time-averaged mass accretion rates for cooling times between 1 and 8 Gyr. Over this period, the mass accretion rates decrease by no more than a factor of the order of 10, which is one order of magnitude smaller than the decay rate found in recent works. Our results require mechanisms that can efficiently and consistently deliver planetesimals inside the Roche radius of white dwarfs over at least 8 Gyr.

Blouin, Simon (ORCID:0000000296321436)↗
DOE OSTI2020

From hydrogen to helium: the spectral evolution of white dwarfs as evidence for convective mixing

ABSTRACT We present a study of the hypothesis that white dwarfs undergo a spectral change from hydrogen- to helium-dominated atmospheres using a volume-limited photometric sample drawn from the Gaia-DR2 catalogue, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), and the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). We exploit the strength of the Balmer jump in hydrogen-atmosphere DA white dwarfs to separate them from helium-dominated objects in SDSS colour space. Across the effective temperature range from 20 000 to 9000 K, we find that 22 per cent of white dwarfs will undergo a spectral change, with no spectral evolution being ruled out at 5σ. The most likely explanation is that the increase in He-rich objects is caused by the convective mixing of DA stars with thin hydrogen layers, in which helium is dredged up from deeper layers by a surface hydrogen convection zone. The rate of change in the fraction of He-rich objects as a function of temperature, coupled with a recent grid of 3D radiation-hydrodynamic simulations of convective DA white dwarfs – which include the full overshoot region – lead to a discussion on the distribution of total hydrogen mass in white dwarfs. We find that 60 per cent of white dwarfs must have a hydrogen mass larger than MH/MWD = 10−10, another 25 per cent have masses in the range MH/MWD = 10−14–10−10, and 15 per cent have less hydrogen than MH/MWD = 10−14. These results have implications for white dwarf asteroseismology, stellar evolution through the asymptotic giant branch and accretion of planetesimals on to white dwarfs.

Cunningham, Tim↗
NASA NTRS1995

The evolutionary thermal response of a white dwarf to compressional heating by periodic dwarf nova accretion events

The thermal response of the underlying white dwarf in a cataclysmic variable to the periodic deposition of mass by a dwarf nova accretion event is simulated with a quasi-static stellar evolution code incorporating time variable accretion. After accretion at rates typical of dwarf nova outbursts (approx. 10(exp -7) to 10(exp -8)/yr) for outburst durations of days to 2 weeks, the radial infall is shut off and the evolution of the white dwarf is followed during dwarf nova quiescence. The matter is assumed to accrete softly with the same entropy as the white dwarf outer layers. In some sequences accretion is resumed and shut off repeatedly at intervals of months to simulate the thermal evolution of the white dwarf in typical dwarf novae such as SS Cygni and U Geminorum, between successive dwarf nova outbursts. Thermal timescales for white dwarf cooling following a given dwarf nova outburst depend upon the accretion rate, outburst duration, and white dwarf mass; they are nominally in the range 0.2-0.8 years for parameters typical of dwarf novae (white dwarf masses in the range 1.2-0.6 solar mass, outburst accretion rates in the range 1 x 10(exp -7)-10(exp -8) solar mass/yr, outburst durations in the range 7-14, days and quiescent intervals of 30-300 days). If the e-folding timescale of the white dwarf cooling is shorter than the quiescent interval bewteen outbursts, then the effect of compressional heating is too small to be observationally detectable.

Sion, Edward M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

A 3 Gyr White Dwarf with Warm Dust Discovered via the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 Citizen Science Project

Infrared excesses due to dusty disks have been observed orbiting white dwarfs with effective temperatures between 7200 and 25,000 K, suggesting that the rate of tidal disruption of minor bodies massive enough to create a coherent disk declines sharply beyond 1 Gyr after white dwarf formation. We report the discovery that the candidate white dwarf LSPM J0207+3331, via the Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 citizen science project and Keck Observatory follow-up spectroscopy, is hydrogen dominated with a luminous compact disk (L IR/L star = 14%) and an effective temperature nearly 1000 K cooler than any known white dwarf with an infrared excess. The discovery of this object places the latest time for large-scale tidal disruption events to occur at ~3 Gyr past the formation of the host white dwarf, making new demands of dynamical models for planetesimal perturbation and disruption around post-main-sequence planetary systems. Curiously, the mid-infrared photometry of the disk cannot be fully explained by a geometrically thin, optically thick dust disk as seen for other dusty white dwarfs, but requires a second ring of dust near the white dwarf's Roche radius. In the process of confirming this discovery, we found that careful measurements of WISE source positions can reveal when infrared excesses for white dwarfs are co-moving with their hosts, helping distinguish them from confusion noise.

Debes, John H.↗
DOE OSTI2022

J-PLUS: Spectral evolution of white dwarfs by PDF analysis

We estimated the spectral evolution of white dwarfs with effective temperature using the Javalambre Photometric Local Universe Survey (J-PLUS) second data release (DR2), which provides 12 photometric optical passbands over 2176 deg 2 . We analyzed 5926 white dwarfs with r ≤ 19.5 mag in common between a white dwarf catalog defined from Gaia EDR3 and J-PLUS DR2. We performed a Bayesian analysis by comparing the observed J-PLUS photometry with theoretical models of hydrogen- and helium-dominated atmospheres. We estimated the probability distribution functions for effective temperature (T eff ), surface gravity, parallax, and composition; and the probability of having a H-dominated atmosphere (p H ) for each source. We applied a prior in parallax, using Gaia EDR3 measurements as a reference, and derived a self-consistent prior for the atmospheric composition as a function of T eff . We described the fraction of white dwarfs with a He-dominated atmosphere (f He ) with a linear function of the effective temperature at 5000 < T eff < 30 000 K. We find f He = 0.24 ± 0.01 at T eff = 10 000 K, a change rate along the cooling sequence of 0.14 ± 0.02 per 10 kK, and a minimum He-dominated fraction of 0.08 ± 0.02 at the high-temperature end. We tested the obtained p H by comparison with spectroscopic classifications, finding that it is reliable. We estimated the mass distribution for the 351 sources with distance d < 100 pc, mass M > 0.45 M ⊙ , and T eff > 6000 K. The result for H-dominated white dwarfs agrees with previous studies, with a dominant M = 0.59 M ⊙ peak and the presence of an excess at M ~ 0.8 M ⊙ . This high-mass excess is absent in the He-dominated distribution, which presents a single peak. The J-PLUS optical data provide a reliable statistical classification of white dwarfs into H- and He-dominated atmospheres. We find a 21 ± 3% increase in the fraction of He-dominated white dwarfs from T eff = 20 000 K to T eff = 5000 K.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

TOWARD A SPECTROSCOPIC CENSUS OF WHITE DWARFS WITHIN 40 pc OF THE SUN

We present the preliminary results of a survey aimed at significantly increasing the range and completeness of the local census of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs. The current census of nearby white dwarfs is reasonably complete only to about 20 pc of the Sun, a volume that includes around 130 white dwarfs, a sample too small for detailed statistical analyses. This census is largely based on follow-up investigations of stars with very large proper motions. We describe here the basis of a method that will lead to a catalog of white dwarfs within 40 pc of the Sun and north of the celestial equator, thus increasing by a factor of eight the extent of the northern sky census. White dwarf candidates are identified from the SUPERBLINK proper motion database, allowing us to investigate stars down to a proper motion limit {mu} > 40 mas yr{sup -1}, while minimizing the kinematic bias for nearby objects. The selection criteria and distance estimates are based on a combination of color-magnitude and reduced proper motion diagrams. Our follow-up spectroscopic observation campaign has so far uncovered 193 new white dwarfs, among which we identify 127 DA (including 9 DA+dM and 4 magnetic), 1 DB, 56 DC, 3 DQ, and 6 DZ stars. We perform a spectroscopic analysis on a subsample of 84 DAs, and provide their atmospheric parameters. In particular, we identify 11 new white dwarfs with spectroscopic distances within 25 pc of the Sun, including five candidates to the D < 20 pc subset.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

THREE NEW ECLIPSING WHITE-DWARF-M-DWARF BINARIES DISCOVERED IN A SEARCH FOR TRANSITING PLANETS AROUND M-DWARFS

We present three new eclipsing white-dwarf/M-dwarf binary systems discovered during a search for transiting planets around M-dwarfs. Unlike most known eclipsing systems of this type, the optical and infrared emission is dominated by the M-dwarf components, and the systems have optical colors and discovery light curves consistent with being Jupiter-radius transiting planets around early M-dwarfs. We detail the PTF/M-dwarf transiting planet survey, part of the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). We present a graphics processing unit (GPU)-based box-least-squares search for transits that runs approximately 8 Multiplication-Sign faster than similar algorithms implemented on general purpose systems. For the discovered systems, we decompose low-resolution spectra of the systems into white-dwarf and M-dwarf components, and use radial velocity measurements and cooling models to estimate masses and radii for the white dwarfs. The systems are compact, with periods between 0.35 and 0.45 days and semimajor axes of approximately 2 R{sub Sun} (0.01 AU). The M-dwarfs have masses of approximately 0.35 M{sub Sun }, and the white dwarfs have hydrogen-rich atmospheres with temperatures of around 8000 K and have masses of approximately 0.5 M{sub Sun }. We use the Robo-AO laser guide star adaptive optics system to tentatively identify one of the objects as a triple system. We also use high-cadence photometry to put an upper limit on the white-dwarf radius of 0.025 R{sub Sun} (95% confidence) in one of the systems. Accounting for our detection efficiency and geometric factors, we estimate that 0.08%{sub -0.05%}{sup +0.10%} (90% confidence) of M-dwarfs are in these short-period, post-common-envelope white-dwarf/M-dwarf binaries where the optical light is dominated by the M-dwarf. The lack of detections at shorter periods, despite near-100% detection efficiency for such systems, suggests that binaries including these relatively low-temperature white dwarfs are preferentially found at relatively large orbital radii. Similar eclipsing binary systems can have arbitrarily small eclipse depths in red bands and generate plausible small-planet-transit light curves. As such, these systems are a source of false positives for M-dwarf transiting planet searches. We present several ways to rapidly distinguish these binaries from transiting planet systems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A PARAMETER-SPACE STUDY OF CARBON-OXYGEN WHITE DWARF MERGERS

The merger of two carbon-oxygen white dwarfs can lead to either a spectacular transient, stable nuclear burning or a massive, rapidly rotating white dwarf. Simulations of mergers have shown that the outcome strongly depends on whether the white dwarfs are similar or dissimilar in mass. In the similar-mass case, both white dwarfs merge fully and the remnant is hot throughout, while in the dissimilar case, the more massive, denser white dwarf remains cold and essentially intact, with the disrupted lower mass one wrapped around it in a hot envelope and disk. In order to determine what constitutes ''similar in mass'' and more generally how the properties of the merger remnant depend on the input masses, we simulated unsynchronized carbon-oxygen white dwarf mergers for a large range of masses using smoothed-particle hydrodynamics. We find that the structure of the merger remnant varies smoothly as a function of the ratio of the central densities of the two white dwarfs. A density ratio of 0.6 approximately separates similar and dissimilar-mass mergers. Confirming previous work, we find that the temperatures of most merger remnants are not high enough to immediately ignite carbon fusion. During subsequent viscous evolution, however, the interior will likely be compressed and heated as the disk accretes and the remnant spins down. We find from simple estimates that this evolution can lead to ignition for many remnants. For similar-mass mergers, this would likely occur under sufficiently degenerate conditions that a thermonuclear runaway would ensue.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Initial–final mass relation for 3 to 4 M{sub ⊙} progenitors of white dwarfs from the single cluster NGC 2099

We have expanded the sample of observed white dwarfs in the rich open cluster NGC 2099 (M37) with the Keck Low Resolution Imaging Spectrometer. Of 20 white dwarf candidates, the spectroscopy shows 19 to be true white dwarfs, with 14 of these having high signal-to-noise ratio. We find 11 of these 14 to be consistent with singly evolved cluster members. They span a mass range of ∼0.7–0.95 M{sub ⊙}, excluding a low-mass outlier, corresponding to progenitor masses of ∼3–4 M{sub ⊙}. This region of the initial–final mass relation (IFMR) has large scatter and a slope that remains to be precisely determined. With this large sample of white dwarfs that belong to a single age and metallicity population, we find an IFMR of (0.171 ± 0.057)M{sub initial}+0.219±0.187M{sub ⊙}, significantly steeper than the linear relation adopted over the full observed white dwarf mass range in many previous studies. Comparison of this new relation from the solar-metallicity NGC 2099 to 18 white dwarfs in the metal-rich Hyades and Praesepe shows that their IFMR also has a consistently steep slope. This strong consistency also suggests that there is no significant metallicity dependence of the IFMR at this mass and metallicity range. As a result, the IFMR can be more reliably determined with this broad sample of 29 total white dwarfs, giving M{sub final} = (0.163 ± 0.022)M{sub initial} + 0.238 ± 0.071 M{sub ⊙} from M{sub initial} of 3–4 M{sub ⊙}. A steep IFMR in this mass range indicates that the full IFMR is nonlinear.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

SDSS DR7 WHITE DWARF CATALOG

We present a new catalog of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarf stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 spectroscopic catalog. We find 20,407 white dwarf spectra, representing 19,712 stars, and provide atmospheric model fits to 14,120 DA and 1011 DB white dwarf spectra from 12,843 and 923 stars, respectively. These numbers represent more than a factor of two increase in the total number of white dwarf stars from the previous SDSS white dwarf catalogs based on DR4 data. Our distribution of subtypes varies from previous catalogs due to our more conservative, manual classifications of each star in our catalog, supplementing our automatic fits. In particular, we find a large number of magnetic white dwarf stars whose small Zeeman splittings mimic increased Stark broadening that would otherwise result in an overestimated log g if fit as a non-magnetic white dwarf. We calculate mean DA and DB masses for our clean, non-magnetic sample and find the DB mean mass is statistically larger than that for the DAs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE CURRENT CENSUS OF NORTHERN WHITE DWARFS WITHIN 40 pc OF THE SUN

We present a detailed description of the physical properties of our current census of white dwarfs within 40 pc of the Sun, based on an exhaustive spectroscopic survey of northern hemisphere candidates from the SUPERBLINK proper motion database. Our method for selecting white dwarf candidates is based on a combination of theoretical color–magnitude relations and reduced proper motion diagrams. We reported in an earlier publication the discovery of nearly 200 new white dwarfs, and we present here the discovery of an additional 133 new white dwarfs, among which we identify 96 DA, 3 DB, 24 DC, 3 DQ, and 7 DZ stars. We further identify 178 white dwarfs that lie within 40 pc of the Sun, representing a 40% increase of the current census, which now includes 492 objects. We estimate the completeness of our survey at between 66% and 78%, allowing for uncertainties in the distance estimates. We also perform a homogeneous model atmosphere analysis of this 40 pc sample and find a large fraction of massive white dwarfs, indicating that we are successfully recovering the more massive, and less luminous objects often missed in other surveys. We also show that the 40 pc sample is dominated by cool and old white dwarfs, which populate the faint end of the luminosity function, although trigonometric parallaxes will be needed to shape this part of the luminosity function more accurately. Finally, we identify 4 probable members of the 20 pc sample, 4 suspected double degenerate binaries, and we also report the discovery of two new ZZ Ceti pulsators.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2015

A DARK SPOT ON A MASSIVE WHITE DWARF

We present the serendipitous discovery of eclipse-like events around the massive white dwarf SDSS J152934.98+292801.9 (hereafter J1529+2928). We selected J1529+2928 for time-series photometry based on its spectroscopic temperature and surface gravity, which place it near the ZZ Ceti instability strip. Instead of pulsations, we detect photometric dips from this white dwarf every 38 minutes. Follow-up optical spectroscopy observations with Gemini reveal no significant radial velocity variations, ruling out stellar and brown dwarf companions. A disintegrating planet around this white dwarf cannot explain the observed light curves in different filters. Given the short period, the source of the photometric dips must be a dark spot that comes into view every 38 minutes due to the rotation of the white dwarf. Our optical spectroscopy does not show any evidence of Zeeman splitting of the Balmer lines, limiting the magnetic field strength to B < 70 kG. Since up to 15% of white dwarfs display kG magnetic fields, such eclipse-like events should be common around white dwarfs. We discuss the potential implications of this discovery on transient surveys targeting white dwarfs, like the K2 mission and the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

A catalogue of white dwarfs in Gaia EDR3

ABSTRACT We present a catalogue of white dwarf candidates selected from Gaia Early Data Release 3 (EDR3). We applied several selection criteria in absolute magnitude, colour, and Gaia quality flags to remove objects with unreliable measurements while preserving most stars compatible with the white dwarf locus in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram. We then used a sample of over 30 000 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs and contaminants from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to map the distribution of these objects in the Gaia absolute magnitude–colour space. Finally, we adopt the same method presented in our previous work on Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) to calculate a probability of being a white dwarf (PWD) for ≃1.3 million sources that passed our quality selection. The PWD values can be used to select a sample of ${\simeq} 359\,000$ high-confidence white dwarf candidates. We calculated stellar parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, and mass) for all these stars by fitting Gaia astrometry and photometry with synthetic pure-H, pure-He, and mixed H–He atmospheric models. We estimate an upper limit of 93 per cent for the overall completeness of our catalogue for white dwarfs with G ≤ 20 mag and effective temperature (Teff) > 7000 K, at high Galactic latitudes (|b| > 20°). Alongside the main catalogue we include a reduced proper motion extension containing ${\simeq} 10\,200$ white dwarf candidates with unreliable parallax measurements that could, however, be identified on the basis of their proper motion. We also performed a cross-match of our catalogues with SDSS Data Release 16 (DR16) spectroscopy and provide spectral classification based on visual inspection for all resulting matches.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗