Heavy metals in a light white dwarf: Abundances of the metal-rich, extremely low-mass GALEX J1717+6757
J. J. Hermes, B. T. Gaensicke, D. Koester, M. C. P. Bours, D. M. Townsley, J. Farihi, T. R. Marsh, Stuart Littlefair, V. S. Dhillon, A. Gianninas, E. Breedt, R. Raddi
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10 pages, 5 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS
Using the Hubble Space Telescope, we detail the first abundance analysis enabled by far-ultraviolet spectroscopy of a low-mass (~0.19 Msun) white dwarf (WD), GALEX J1717+6757, which is in a 5.9-hr binary with a fainter, more-massive companion. We see absorption from nine metals, including roughly solar abundances of Ca, Fe, Ti, and P. We detect a significantly sub-solar abundance of C, and put upper limits on N and O that are also markedly sub-solar. Updated diffusion calculations indicate that all metals should settle out of the atmosphere of this 14,900 K, log(g) = 5.67 WD in the absence of radiative forces in less than 20 yr, orders of magnitude faster than the cooling age of hundreds of Myr. We demonstrate that ongoing accretion of rocky material that is often the cause of atmospheric metals in isolated, more massive WDs is unlikely to explain the observed abundances in GALEX J1717+6757. Using new radiative levitation calculations, we determine that radiative forces can counteract diffusion and support many but not all of the elements present in the atmosphere of this WD; radiative levitation cannot, on its own, explain all of the observed abundance patterns, and additional mechanisms such as rotational mixing may be required. Finally, we detect both primary and secondary eclipses using ULTRACAM high-speed photometry, which we use to constrain the low-mass WD radius and rotation rate as well as update the ephemeris from the discovery observations of this WD+WD binary.
We report on the discovery of a new heavily polluted white dwarf. The DAZ white dwarf GALEX J193156.8+011745 was identified in a joint GALEX/GSC survey of ultraviolet-excess objects. Optical spectra obtained at ESO NTT show strong absorption lines of magnesium and silicon and a detailed abundance analysis based on VLT-Kueyen UVES spectra reveal super-solar abundances of silicon and magnesium, and near-solar abundances of oxygen, calcium, and iron. The overall abundance pattern bears the signature of ongoing accretion onto the white dwarf atmosphere. The infrared spectral energy distribution sh…
We search for photometric variability in more than 23,000 known and candidate white dwarfs, the largest ultraviolet survey compiled for a single study of white dwarfs. We use gPhoton, a publicly available calibration/reduction pipeline, to generate time-series photometry of white dwarfs observed by GALEX. By implementing a system of weighted metrics, we select sources with variability due to pulsations and eclipses. Although GALEX observations have short baselines (< 30 min), we identify intrinsic variability in sources as faint as Gaia G = 20 mag. With our ranking algorithm, we identify 49 ne…
With the launch of the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), a new era of detecting planetary debris around white dwarfs has begun with the WISE InfraRed Excesses around Degenerates (WIRED) Survey. The WIRED Survey will be sensitive to substellar objects and dusty debris around white dwarfs out to distances exceeding 100 pc, well beyond the completeness level of local WDs and covering a large fraction of known WDs detected with the SDSS DR4 white dwarf catalogue. In this paper we report an initial result of the WIRED survey, the detection of the heavily polluted hydrogen white dwarf (spe…
We present an analysis of high-dispersion and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of the DAZ white dwarf GALEX J1931+0117. The spectra obtained with the VLT-Kueyen/UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph show several well-resolved Si II spectral lines enabling a study of pressure effects on line profiles. We observed large Stark shifts in silicon lines in agreement with laboratory measurements. A model atmosphere analysis shows that the magnesium, silicon and iron abundances exceed solar abundances, while the oxygen and calcium abundances are below solar. Also, we compared the observed line profiles to …
We use 1837 DA white dwarfs with high signal to noise ratio spectra and Gaia parallaxes to verify the absolute calibration and extinction coefficients for the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX). We use white dwarfs within 100 pc to verify the linearity correction to the GALEX data. We find that the linearity correction is valid for magnitudes brighter than 15.95 and 16.95 for the Far Ultraviolet (FUV) and Near Ultraviolet (NUV) bands, respectively. We also use DA white dwarfs beyond 250 pc to calculate extinction coefficients in the FUV and NUV bands; $R_{\rm FUV}=8.01 \pm 0.07$ and $R_{\rm NUV…
We assembled a catalogue of bright, hot subdwarf and white dwarf stars extracted from a joint ultraviolet, optical, and infrared source list. The selection is secured using colour criteria that correlate well with effective temperatures T_eff ~> 12,000 K. We built a N_UV-V versus V-J diagram for more than 60,000 bright sources using the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) N_UV magnitude (N_UV<14), and the associated Guide Star Catalog (GSC2.3.2) photographic quick-V magnitude and the Two Micron All Sky Survey (2MASS) J and H magnitudes. This distillation process delivered a catalogue of approxim…
We report on the discovery of the shortest period binary comprising a hot subdwarf star (CD-30 11223, GALEX J1411-3053) and a massive unseen companion. Photometric data from the All Sky Automated Survey show ellipsoidal variations of the hot subdwarf primary and spectroscopic series revealed an orbital period of 70.5 minutes. The large velocity amplitude suggests the presence of a massive white dwarf in the system (M_2/M_sun > 0.77) assuming a canonical mass for the hot subdwarf (0.48 M_sun), although a white dwarf mass as low as 0.75 M_sun is allowable by postulating a subdwarf mass as low as…
This paper describes a revised photometric calibration of the \emph{Galaxy Evolution Explorer} magnitudes, based on measurements of DA white dwarfs. The photometric magnitudes of white dwarfs measured by \emph{GALEX} are compared to predicted magnitudes based on independent spectroscopic data (108 stars) and alternately to \emph{IUE} UV fluxes of the white dwarfs (218 stars). The results demonstrate a significant non-linear correlation and small offset between archived \emph{GALEX} fluxes and observed and predicted UV fluxes for our sample. The primary source of non-linearity may be due to det…
We present a detailed model atmosphere analysis of high-dispersion and high signal-to-noise ratio spectra of the heavily polluted DAZ white dwarf GALEX J1931+0117. The spectra obtained with the VLT-Kueyen/UV-Visual Echelle Spectrograph show several well-resolved Si II spectral lines enabling a study of pressure effects on line profiles. We observed large Stark shifts in silicon lines in agreement with theoretical predictions and laboratory measurements. Taking into account Stark shifts in the calculation of synthetic spectra we reduced the scatter in individual line radial velocity measurement…
We present comprehensive catalogs of hot star candidates in the Milky Way, selected from GALEX far-UV (FUV, 1344-1786 AA) and near-UV (NUV, 1771-2831 AA) imaging. The FUV and NUV photometry allows us to extract the hottest stellar objects, in particular hot white dwarfs (WD), which are elusive at other wavelengths because of their high temperatures and faint optical luminosities. We generated catalogs of UV sources from two GALEX's surveys: AIS (All-Sky Imaging Survey, depth ABmag~19.9/20.8 in FUV/NUV) and MIS (Medium-depth Imaging Survey, depth ~22.6/22.7mag). The two catalogs (from GALEX fif…
White dwarf (WD) stars are often associated with the central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe) on their way to the cooling track. A large number of WD star candidates have been identified thanks to optical large-scale surveys such as Gaia DR2 and EDR3. However, hot-WD/CSPNe stars are quite elusive in optical bands due to their high temperatures and low optical luminosities. The Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) matched with the INT Galactic Plane Survey (IGAPS) allowed us to identify hot-WD candidates by combining the GALEX far-UV (FUV) and near-UV (NUV) with optical photometric bands (g, r, …
We discovered two bright DO-type white dwarfs, GALEXJ053628.3+544854 (J0536+5448) and GALEX231128.0+292935(J2311+2929), which rank among the eight brightest DO-type white dwarfs known. Our non-LTE model atmosphere analysis reveals effective temperatures and surface gravities of $T_{\mathrm{eff}}=80000\pm4600\,\mathrm{K}$ and $\log \mathrm{g}=8.25\pm0.15$ for J0536+5448 and $T_{\mathrm{eff}}=69400\pm900\,\mathrm{K}$ and $\log \mathrm{g}=7.80\pm0.06$ for J2311+2929. The latter shows a significant amount of carbon in its atmosphere ($C=0.003^{+0.005}_{-0.002}$, by mass), while for J0536+5448 we c…
The prototype of accreting, pulsating white dwarfs (GW Lib) underwent a large amplitude dwarf nova outburst in 2007. We used ultraviolet data from GALEX and ground-based optical photometry and spectroscopy to follow GW Lib for three years following this outburst. Several variations are apparent during this interval. The optical shows a superhump modulation in the months following outburst while a 19 min quasi-periodic modulation lasting for several months is apparent in the year after outburst. A long timescale (about 4 hr) modulation first appears in the UV a year after outburst and increases…
The ultraviolet (UV) emission of stellar flares may have a pivotal role in the habitability of rocky exoplanets around low-mass stars. Previous studies have used white-light observations to calibrate empirical models which describe the optical and UV flare emission. However, the accuracy of the UV predictions of models have previously not been tested. We combined TESS optical and GALEX UV observations to test the UV predictions of empirical flare models calibrated using optical flare rates of M stars. We find that the canonical 9000 K blackbody model used by flare studies underestimates the GA…
We present results from a search for short time-scale white dwarf variability using \texttt{gPhoton}, a time-tagged database of \textit{GALEX} photon events and associated software package. We conducted a survey of $320$ white dwarf stars in the McCook-Sion catalogue, inspecting each for photometric variability with particular emphasis on variability over time-scales less than $\sim 30$ minutes. From that survey, we present the discovery of a new pulsating white dwarf: WD 2246-069. A Ca II K line is found in archival ESO spectra and an IR excess is seen in WISE $W1$ and $W2$ bands. Its indepen…
A high-resolution spectrum of the helium-rich `hot subdwarf' GALEX J184559.8-413827 (J1845-4138) obtained with SALT HRS demonstrates it to be the first extreme helium (EHe) star to be discovered in nearly 40 years. A quantitative analysis demonstrates it to have an atmosphere described by Teff = 26 170 +/- 750 K, log g /(cm s^-2) = 4.22 +/- 0.10, and a surface chemistry characterised by CNO-processed helium, a 1% contamination of hydrogen (by number), and a metallicity 0.4 dex subsolar. Its distance and position are consistent with membership of the Galactic bulge. Its sharp absorption lines p…
The white dwarf binary pathways survey - XI. The Gaia-GALEX UV Excess Sample for systems within 350 pc
University of Sheffield（谢菲尔德大学）；Universita’ degli Studi di Trieste（的里雅斯特大学）；University of Warwick（华威大学）；Hamburger Sternwarte, University of Hamburg（汉堡天文台，汉堡大学）；Universidad Técnica Federico Santa María（费德里科·圣塔玛利亚技术大学）；Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya（加泰罗尼亚理工大学）；Institut d’Estudis Espacials de Catalunya (IEEC)（加泰罗尼亚空间研究所）；National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）
The presence of ultra-high excitation (UHE) absorption lines (e.g., O VIII) in the optical spectra of several of the hottest white dwarfs poses a decades-long mystery and is something that has never been observed in any other astrophysical object. The occurrence of such features requires a dense environment with temperatures near $10^6$K, by far exceeding the stellar effective temperature. Here we report the discovery of a new hot wind white dwarf, GALEXJ014636.8+323615. Astonishingly, we found for the first time rapid changes of the equivalent widths of the UHE features, which are correlated …
{\it GALEX} near ultraviolet (NUV) and far-ultraviolet (FUV) light curves of three extremely low accretion rate polars show distinct modulations in their UV light curves. While these three systems have a range of magnetic fields from 13 to 70 MG, and of late type secondaries (including a likely brown dwarf in SDSSJ121209.31+013627.7), the accretion rates are similar, and the UV observations imply some mechanism is operating to create enhanced emission zones on the white dwarf. The UV variations match in phase to the two magnetic poles viewed in the optical in WX LMi and to the single poles evi…
We have measured the orbital parameters of seven close binaries, including six new objects, in a radial velocity survey of 38 objects comprising a hot subdwarf star with orbital periods ranging from ~0.17 to 3 d. One new system, GALEX J2205-3141, shows reflection on a M dwarf companion. Three other objects show significant short-period variations, but their orbital parameters could not be constrained. Two systems comprising a hot subdwarf paired with a bright main-sequence/giant companion display short-period photometric variations possibly due to irradiation or stellar activity and are also s…
We present a catalogue of 1602 white dwarf-main sequence binaries (WDMS) from the spectroscopic Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 6 (SDSS DR6). Among these we identify 440 as new WDMS binaries. We select WDMS binary candidates from template fitting all 1.27 million DR6 spectra, using combined constraints in both $χ^{2}$ and signal-to-noise ratio. In addition, we use Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) and UKIRT Infrared Sky Survey (UKIDSS) magnitudes to search for objects in which one of the two components dominates the SDSS spectrum. We use a decomposition/fitting technique to measure the e…
We report on a population of short duration near-ultraviolet (NUV) flares in stars observed by the Kepler and GALEX missions. We analyzed NUV light curves of 34,276 stars observed from 2009-2013 by both the GALEX (NUV) and Kepler (optical) space missions with the eventual goal of investigating multi-wavelength flares. From the GALEX data we constructed light curves with a 10 second cadence, and ultimately detected 1,904 short duration flares on 1,021 stars. The vast majority (94.5\%) of these flares have durations less than five minutes, with flare flux enhancements above the quiescent flux le…
In a search for new white dwarfs in DR12 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Kepler et al. (2016) found atmospheric parameters for thousands of objects with effective temperatures below 20,000 K and surface gravities between 5.5 < log(g) < 6.5. They classified these objects as cool subdwarfs -- sdA -- and speculated that many may be extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarfs (helium-core white dwarfs with masses below 0.3 Msun). We present evidence -- using radial velocities, photometric colors, and reduced proper motions -- that the vast majority (>99%) of these objects are unlikely to be ELM white d…
At present, the precision of deep ultraviolet photometry is somewhat limited by the dearth of faint ultraviolet standard stars. In an effort to improve this situation, we present a uniform catalog of eleven new faint (u sim17) ultraviolet standard stars. High-precision photometry of these stars has been taken from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and Galaxy Evolution Explorer and combined with new data from the Swift Ultraviolet Optical Telescope to provide precise photometric measures extending from the Near Infrared to the Far Ultraviolet. These stars were chosen because they are known to be hot…
We report on the discovery of the extremely low-mass, hydrogen-rich white dwarf, NLTT 11748. Based on measurements of the effective temperature (8540+/-50 K) and surface gravity (log g = 6.20+/-0.15) obtained by fitting the observed Balmer line profiles with synthetic spectra, we derive a mass of 0.167+/-0.005 M_solar. This object is one of only a handful of white dwarfs with masses below 0.2 M_solar that are believed to be the product of close binary evolution with an episode of Roche lobe overflow onto a degenerate companion (neutron star or white dwarf). Assuming membership in the halo popu…
We report the discovery of a bright (V ~ 13.7), extremely low-mass white dwarf in a close double degenerate system. We originally selected GALEX J171708.5+675712 for spectroscopic follow-up among a group of white dwarf candidates in an ultraviolet-optical reduced proper-motion diagram. The new white dwarf has a mass of 0.18 M_solar and is the primary component of a close double degenerate system (P=0.246137 d, K_1 = 288 km/s) comprising a fainter white dwarf secondary with M_2 ~ 0.9 M_solar. Light curves phased with the orbital ephemeris show evidence of relativistic beaming and weaker ellipso…
Present X-ray missions like Chandra and XMM-Newton provide high-resolution and high-S/N observations of extremely hot white dwarfs, e.g. burst spectra of novae. Their analysis requires adequate Non-LTE model atmospheres. The Tübingen Non-LTE Model-Atmosphere Package TMAP can calculate such model atmospheres and spectral energy distributions at a high level of sophistication. In the framework of the Virtual Observatory, the German Astrophysical Virtual Observatory (GAVO) offers TheoSSA, a Virtual Observatory (VO) service that provides easy access to theoretical SEDs. We present a new grid of SE…
We present the orbit and properties of 2MASS J050051.85-093054.9, establishing it as the closest (d ~ 71 pc) extremely low mass white dwarf to the Sun. We find that this star is hydrogen-rich with Teff ~ 10 500 K, log g ~ 5.9, and, following evolutionary models, has a mass of ~ 0.17 solar masses. Independent analysis of radial velocity and TESS photometric time series reveals an orbital period of ~ 9.5 h. Its high velocity amplitude (K ~ 144 km/s) produces a measurable Doppler beaming effect in the TESS light curve with an amplitude of 1 mmag. The unseen companion is most likely a faint white …
The census of young moving groups in the solar neighborhood is significantly incomplete in the low-mass regime. We have developed a new selection process to find these missing members based on the GALEX All-Sky Imaging Survey. For stars with spectral types >K5 and younger than 300~Myr, we show that near-UV and far-UV emission is greatly enhanced above the quiescent photosphere, analogous to the enhanced X-ray emission of young low-mass stars seen by ROSAT but detectable to much larger distances with GALEX. By combining GALEX data with optical (HST Guide Star Catalog) and near-IR (2MASS) photom…
Extremely low-mass white dwarfs (ELM WDs) are the result of binary evolution in which a low-mass donor star is stripped by its companion leaving behind a helium-core white dwarf. We explore the formation of ELM WDs in binary systems considering the Convection And Rotation Boosted magnetic braking treatment. Our evolutionary sequences were calculated using the MESA code, with initial masses of 1.0 and 1.2 Msun (donor), and 1.4 (accretor), compatible with low mass X-ray binaries (LMXB) systems. We obtain ELM models in the range 0.15 to 0.27 Msun from a broad range of initial orbital periods, 1 t…
Near-infrared photometry and spectroscopy is obtained for a heterogeneous sample of nearby white dwarfs with possible excess flux as identified primarily in the Two Micron All Sky Survey. Among the sample of 43 stars are a number of white dwarfs that are either metal-rich, magnetic, or binary suspects. With a few notable exceptions in four (or possibly five) distinct categories, the newly obtained JHK photometric data fail to corroborate the putative excesses, with K_IRTF - K_2MASS = +0.31 mag. Where available, GALEX photometric data are used to better constrain the overall spectral energy dis…
We report the discovery of pulsations in three mixed-atmosphere, extremely low-mass white dwarf (ELM WD, M $\leqslant$ 0.3 M$_{\odot}$) precursors. Following the recent discoveries of pulsations in both ELM and pre-ELM WDs, we targeted pre-ELM WDs with mixed H/He atmospheres with high-speed photometry. We find significant optical variability in all three observed targets with periods in the range 320--590 s, consistent in timescale with theoretical predictions of $p$-mode pulsations in mixed-atmosphere $\approx$ 0.18 M$_{\odot}$ He-core pre-ELM WDs. This represents the first empirical evidence…
We begin the search for extremely-low mass ($M\leq0.3M_{\odot}$, ELM) white dwarfs (WDs) in the southern sky based on photometry from the VST ATLAS and SkyMapper surveys. We use a similar color-selection method as the Hypervelocity star survey. We switched to an astrometric selection once Gaia Data Release 2 became available. We use the previously known sample of ELM white dwarfs to demonstrate that these objects occupy a unique parameter space in parallax and magnitude. We use the SOAR 4.1m telescope to test the Gaia-based selection, and identify more than two dozen low-mass white dwarfs, inc…
We report the discovery of pulsations in the extremely low mass (ELM), likely helium-core white dwarf GD 278 via ground- and space-based photometry. GD 278 was observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in Sector 18 at a 2-min cadence for roughly 24 d. The TESS data reveal at least 19 significant periodicities between 2447-6729 s, one of which is the longest pulsation period ever detected in a white dwarf. Previous spectroscopy found that this white dwarf is in a 4.61 hr orbit with an unseen >0.4 solar-mass companion and has Teff = 9230 +/- 100 K and log(g) = 6.627 +/- 0.056,…
The physical nature of the sdA stars---cool hydrogen-rich objects with spectroscopic surface gravities intermediate between main sequence and canonical mass white dwarfs---has been elusive since they were found in Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12 spectra. The population is likely dominated by metal-poor A/F stars in the halo with overestimated surface gravities, with a small contribution of extremely low-mass white dwarfs and their precursors, i.e., ELMs and pre-ELMs. In this work, we seek to identify (pre-)ELMs with radii smaller than is possible for main sequence stars, allowing even…
SDSS J111215.82+111745.0 is the second pulsating extremely low-mass white dwarf discovered. Two short-period pulsations, 107.56 and 134.275 s, were detected on this star, which would be the first observed pressure mode ($p$-mode) pulsations observed on a white dwarf. While the two potential $p$-modes have yet to be confirmed, they make SDSS J111215.82+111745.0 an interesting object. In this work, we analyzed the whole set of seven periods observed on SDSS J111215.82+111745.0. We adopt three independent period-spacing tests to reveal a roughly 93.4 s mean period spacing of $\ell=1$ $g$-modes, w…
We present evidence that excesses in Be in polluted white dwarfs (WDs) are the result of accretion of icy exomoons that formed in the radiation belts of giant exoplanets. Here we use excess Be in the white dwarf GALEX J2339-0424 as an example. We constrain the parent body abundances of rock-forming elements in GALEX J2339-0424 and show that the overabundance of beryllium in this WD cannot be accounted for by differences in diffusive fluxes through the WD outer envelope nor by chemical fractionations during typical rock-forming processes. We argue instead that the Be was produced by energetic p…
We present the first results from our ongoing project to study extremely low mass (ELM) white dwarfs (WDs) ($M$ $\leq$ 0.3$M_{\sun}$) with the Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope (LAMOST) spectra. Based on the LAMOST DR8 spectral database, we analyzed 136 ELM WD candidates selected from $\it Gaia$ DR2 data and 12 known objects previously identified by the ELM Survey. The atmospheric parameters and radial velocities of these stars were obtained by fitting the LAMOST low-resolution spectra. After comparing the atmospheric parameters of the 12 known objects from this work to…
Magnetic fields have been detected in several hundred white dwarfs, with strengths ranging from a few kG to several hundred MG. Only a few of the known fields have a mean magnetic field modulus below about 1 MG. We are searching for new examples of magnetic white dwarfs with very weak fields, and trying to model the few known examples. Our search is intended to be sensitive enough to detect fields at the few kG level. We have been surveying bright white dwarfs for very weak fields using spectropolarimeters at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope, the William Herschel telescope, the European Sout…
We present an extended grid of mean three-dimensional (3D) spectra for low-mass, pure-hydrogen atmosphere DA white dwarfs (WDs). We use CO5BOLD radiation-hydrodynamics 3D simulations covering Teff = 6000-11,500 K and logg = 5-6.5 (cgs units) to derive analytical functions to convert spectroscopically determined 1D temperatures and surface gravities to 3D atmospheric parameters. Along with the previously published 3D models, the 1D to 3D corrections are now available for essentially all known convective DA WDs (i.e., logg = 5-9). For low-mass WDs, the correction in temperature is relatively sma…
Magnetically guided accretion and extremely slow rotation in a metal-enriched white dwarf
Armagh Observatory & Planetarium（阿马赫天文台与天文馆）；Queen’s University Belfast（贝尔法斯特女王大学）；Tartu Observatory, University of Tartu（塔尔图大学塔尔图天文台）；University of Warwick（华威大学）；University of Western Ontario（韦仕敦大学）
We present an analysis of the evolutionary and pulsation properties of the extremely low-mass white dwarf precursor (B) component of the double-lined eclipsing system WASP 0247-25. Given that the fundamental parameters of that star have been obtained previously at a unique level of precision, WASP 0247-25B represents the ideal case for testing evolutionary models of this newly-found category of pulsators. Taking into account the known constraints on the mass, orbital period, effective temperature, surface gravity, and atmospheric composition, we present a model that is compatible with these co…
Extremely-low mass white dwarf stars (ELMs) are M < 0.3 MSun helium-core white dwarfs born either as a result of a common-envelope phase or after a stable Roche-lobe overflow episode in a multiple system. The Universe is not old enough for ELMs to have formed through single-star evolution channels. As remnants of binary evolution, ELMs can shed light onto the poorly understood phase of common-envelope evolution and provide constraints to the physics of mass accretion. Most known ELMs will merge in less than a Hubble time, providing an important contribution to the signal to be detected by upco…
About 10% of all stars exhibit absorption lines of ultra-high excited (UHE) metals (e.g. OVIII) in their optical spectra when entering the white dwarf cooling sequence. The recent discovery of a both spectroscopic and photometric variable UHE white dwarf led to the speculation that the UHE lines might be created in a shock-heated circumstellar magnetosphere. We investigate (multi-band) light curves from several ground- and space-based surveys of all 16 currently known UHE white dwarfs (including one newly discovered) and eight white dwarfs that show only the HeII line problem, as both phenomen…
We present the discovery of an unusual, tidally-distorted extremely low mass white dwarf (WD) with nearly solar metallicity. Radial velocity measurements confirm that this is a compact binary with an orbital period of 2.6975 hrs and a velocity semi-amplitude of K = 108.7 km/s. Analysis of the hydrogen Balmer lines yields an effective temperature of Teff = 8380 K and a surface gravity of log g = 6.21 that in turn indicate a mass of M = 0.16 Msol and a cooling age of 4.2 Gyr. In addition, a detailed analysis of the observed metal lines yields abundances of log Mg/H = -3.90, log Ca/H = -5.80, log…
We report the discovery of HE 0430-2457, the first extremely low-mass pre-white dwarf (ELM pre-WD) in a long period binary (P = 771 +- 3 d). The spectroscopic parameters of the primary are determined to be Teff = 26200 +- 1500 K and logg = 5.40 +- 0.35, placing it in the region occupied by core He-burning hot subdwarf B stars. By comparing the spectroscopic parameters of the K-type companion to stellar models, and using the mass ratio, the mass of the hot primary is determined to be 0.23 Msun. Given that this is too low for core He-burning, the primary in HE 0430-2457 is not an EHB star but a …
We present the second paper of a series of publications aiming at obtaining a better understanding regarding the nature of type Ia supernovae (SNIa) progenitors by studying a large sample of detached F, G and K main sequence stars in close orbits with white dwarf companions (i.e. WD+FGK binaries). We employ the LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Object Fibre Spectroscopic Telescope) data release 4 spectroscopic data base together with GALEX (Galaxy Evolution Explorer) ultraviolet fluxes to identify 1,549 WD+FGK binary candidates (1,057 of which are new), thus doubling the number of known sources. We…
We provide a fine and homogeneous grid of evolutionary sequences for He-core white dwarfs with masses 0.15-0.45 Msun, including the mass range for ELM white dwarfs (<0.20Msun). The grid is appropriate for mass and age determination, and to study their pulsational properties. White dwarf sequences have been computed by performing full evolutionary calculations that consider the main energy sources and processes of chemical abundance changes during white dwarf evolution. Initial models for the evolving white dwarfs have been obtained by computing the non-conservative evolution of a binary system…
Pulsating extremely low-mass pre-white dwarf stars (pre-ELMV), with masses between ~0.15 Msun and ~0.30 Msun, constitute a new class of variable stars showing g- and possibly p-mode pulsations with periods between 320 and 6000 s, while main sequence delta Scuti stars, with masses between 1.2-2.5 Msun, pulsate in low-order g and p modes with periods in the range [700-28800] s. Interestingly enough, the instability strips of pre-ELM white dwarf and delta Scuti stars nearly overlap in the Teff vs. log g diagram, leading to a degeneracy when spectroscopy is the only tool to classify the stars and …
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 20000K to 9000K we find that 22% of white dwarfs will undergo a spectral change, with no spectral evolution being rul…
We aim to reveal the nature of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) stars: SDSSJ100921.40+375233.9, SDSSJ015717.04+135535.9, and SDSSJ171422.43+283657.2, showing apparently high NUV excesses for their g-z colors, as expected for extremely low-metallicity stars. High resolution (R=60 000) spectra of the stars with a wide wavelength coverage were obtained to determine their chemical compositions with the Tull echelle spectrograph on the 2.7 m telescope at the McDonald Observatory. We derived the spectroscopic parameters Teff =5820+-125 K, log g =3.9+-0.2, and vt =1.1+-0.5 km/s for SDSSJ100921.40+…
We created the APOGEE-GALEX-\emph{Gaia} catalog to study white dwarfs binaries. This database aims to create a minimally biased sample of WD binary systems identified from a combination of GALEX, {\it Gaia}, and APOGEE data to increase the number of WD binaries with orbital parameters and chemical compositions. We identify 3,414 sources as WD binary candidates, with nondegenerate companions of spectral types between F and M, including main sequence, main sequence binaries, subgiants, sub-subgiants, red giants, and red clump stars. Among our findings are (a) a total of 1,806 systems having infe…
