To determine the velocity ellipsoid of the solar neighborhood white dwarfs, we use the space velocity components of stars. Two samples of white dwarfs are used, 20 pc and 25 pc samples. Beside the two main samples, the solar velocity and velocity dispersions are calculated for the four subsamples, namely DA, non - DA, hot and cool white dwarfs. Comparison between the results of 20 pc sample and those of 25 pc sample gives good agreement, while the comparison between the other subsamples gives bad agreement. Dependence of the velocity dispersions and solar velocity on the chemical composition and effective temperatures are discussed.
Stars are stretched by tidal interactions in tight binaries, and changes to their projected areas introduce photometric variations twice per orbit. Hermes et al. (2014, ApJ, 792, 39) utilized measurements of these ellipsoidal variations to constrain the radii of low-mass white dwarfs in eight single-lined spectroscopic binaries. We refine this method here, using Monte Carlo simulations to improve constraints on many orbital and stellar properties of binary systems that exhibit ellipsoidal variations. We analyze the recently discovered tidally distorted white dwarf binary system SDSS J1054-2121…
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 $1.3~M_{\odot}$ 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 $M=1.334\ M_\odot$, which corresponds to the high-density limit of our equation-…
White dwarfs are the remnants of low and intermediate mass stars. Because of electron degeneracy, their evolution is just a simple gravothermal process of cooling. Recently, thanks to Gaia data, it has been possible to construct the luminosity function of massive (0.9 < M/Msun < 1.1) white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood (d < 100 pc). Since the lifetime of their progenitors is very short, the birth times of both, parents and daughters, are very close and allow to reconstruct the (effective) star formation rate. This rate started growing from zero during the early Galaxy and reached a maximum …
Prior studies have hypothesized that some polluted white dwarfs record continent-like granitic crust--which is abundant on Earth and perhaps uniquely indicative of plate tectonics. But these inferences derive from only a few elements, none of which define rock type. We thus present the first estimates of rock types on exoplanets that once orbited polluted white dwarfs--stars whose atmospheric compositions record the infall of formerly orbiting planetary objects--examining cases where Mg, Si, Ca and Fe are measured with precision. We find no evidence for continental crust, or other crust types,…
The white dwarf luminosity function is an important tool to understand the properties of the Solar neighborhood, like its star formation history, and its age. Here we present a population synthesis study of the white dwarf population within 40~pc from the Sun, and compare the results of this study with the properties of the observed sample. We use a state-of-the-art population synthesis code based on Monte Carlo techniques, that incorporates the most recent and reliable white dwarf cooling sequences, an accurate description of the Galactic neighborhood, and a realistic treatment of all the kno…
We present 114 trigonometric parallaxes for 107 nearby white dwarf (WD) systems from both the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory Parallax Investigation (CTIOPI) and the U. S. Naval Observatory Flagstaff Station (NOFS) parallax programs. Of these, 76 parallaxes for 69 systems were measured by the CTIOPI program and 38 parallaxes for as many systems were measured by the NOFS program. A total of 50 systems are confirmed to be within the 25 pc horizon of interest. Coupled with a spectroscopic confirmation of a common proper motion companion to a Hipparcos star within 25 pc as well as confirma…
We analyze the 3D morphology and kinematics of 13 open clusters (OCs) located within 500 pc of the Sun, using Gaia EDR3 and kinematic data from literature. Members of OCs are identified using the unsupervised machine learning method StarGO, using 5D parameters (X, Y, Z, $μ_α\cosδ, μ_δ$). The OC sample covers an age range of 25Myr--2.65Gyr. We correct the asymmetric distance distribution due to the parallax error using Bayesian inversion. The uncertainty in the corrected distance for a cluster at 500~pc is 3.0--6.3~pc, depending on the intrinsic spatial distribution of its members. We determine…
We present a sample of 59 periodic variables from the Palomar Transient Factory, selected from published catalogues of white dwarf (WD) candidates. The variability can likely be attributed to ellipsoidal variation of the tidally distorted companion induced by the gravity of the primary (WD or hot subdwarf) or to the reflection of hot emission by a cooler companion. We searched 11311 spectroscopically or photometrically selected WD candidates from three hot star/WD catalogues, using the Lomb-Scargle periodogram to single out promising sources. We present period estimates for the candidates, 45 …
Systematic photometric and asteroseismological studies in the last decade support the belief that white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood harbor a broad range of hydrogen-layer contents. The reasons behind this spread of hydrogen-layer masses are not understood and usually misunderstood. In this work we present, and review, the different mechanisms that can (or cannot) lead to the formation of white dwarfs with a broad range hydrogen contents.
Kinematic and Dynamical Properties of Solar Neighborhood White Dwarfs from SDSS DR19 and Gaia DR3
Programme of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Institute of Graduate Studies in Science, Istanbul University（伊斯坦布尔大学）；Department of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Faculty of Science, Istanbul University（伊斯坦布尔大学）；Homer L. Dodge Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Oklahoma（俄克拉荷马大学）
A compact object with a K type star companion in the solar neighborhood: a wide post common envelope binary with a white dwarf candidate
Xiamen University（厦门大学）；Yunnan Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院云南天文台）；International Centre of Supernovae, Yunnan Key Laboratory（超新星国际中心，云南省重点实验室）；National Astronomical Observatory, Chinese Academy of Sciences（中国科学院国家天文台）；School of Physics, Peking University（北京大学物理学院）；Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University（北京大学科维理天文与天体物理研究所）；Institut de Ciències de l’Espai (ICE-CSIC)（空间科学研究所（加泰罗尼亚太空科学与信息技术研究所））
We study the flux variation in helium white dwarfs (WDs) induced by dynamical tides for a variety of WD models with effective temperatures ranging from $T$=10 kK to $T$=26 kK. At linear order, we find the dynamical tide can significantly perturb the observed flux in hot WDs. If the temperature $T\gtrsim14$ kK, then the dynamical tide may induce a fractional change in the flux by >1% when the orbital period is $P_{\rm orb}\simeq 20-60\,{\rm min}$. The ratio between the flux modulation due to the dynamical tide and that due to the equilibrium tide (i.e., ellipsoidal variability) increases as the…
We use Gaia DR2 kinematic data and white dwarf evolutionary models to determine that the young and ultramassive white dwarf GD 50 is a likely member of the AB Doradus moving group. Comparison with the Montréal white dwarf evolutionary models and the MIST main-sequence lifetimes imply a total age of 117 $\pm$ 26 ($\pm$ 13 statistic, $\pm$ 22 systematic) Myr, accounting for all possible C/O/Ne core compositions and using the Pleiad white dwarf LB 1497 as a comparison benchmark. This is the first white dwarf cosmochronology age for a nearby young moving group, and allows us to refine the age of t…
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…
Truly, kinematics in the Solar neighborhood has provided important information both for the structure and for the evolution of the Galaxy since the early 20th century. The relationship between Oort constants and the ratio of the velocity dispersion are important quantities in stellar kinematics. In the present paper, we calculated the kinematical parameters and the Oort constants of various samples of late to intermediate M-type stars. We calculated the velocity dispersion (σ_1,σ_2,σ_3 ) in units of km s-1 for the samples under study. The longitude of the vertex (l_2 ) having negative values w…
We assess the photometric variability of nine stars with spectroscopic Teff and log(g) values from the ELM Survey that locate them near the empirical extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarf instability strip. We discover three new pulsating stars: SDSS J135512.34+195645.4, SDSS J173521.69+213440.6 and SDSS J213907.42+222708.9. However, these are among the few ELM Survey objects that do not show radial velocity variations to confirm the binary nature expected of helium-core white dwarfs. The dominant 4.31-hr pulsation in SDSS J135512.34+195645.4 far exceeds the theoretical cutoff for surface refle…
We report the discovery of a relatively bright eclipsing binary system, which consists of a white dwarf and a main sequence K7 star with clear signs of chromospheric and spot activity. The light curve of this system shows $\sim0.2$mag ellipsoidal variability with a period of 0.297549d and a short total eclipse of the white dwarf. Based on our analysis of the spectral and photometric data, we estimated the parameters of the system. The K7V star is tidally deformed but does not fill its Roche lobe (the filling factor is about 0.86). The orbital inclination is $i=73^\circ.1\pm 0^\circ.2$, the mas…
We present optical spectroscopy and near-infrared photometry of 57 faint ($g= 19-22$) high proper motion white dwarfs identified through repeat imaging of $\approx3100$ square degrees of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey footprint by Munn et al. (2014). We use $ugriz$ and $JH$ photometry to perform a model atmosphere analysis, and identify ten ultracool white dwarfs with $T_{\rm eff}<4000$ K, including the coolest pure H atmosphere white dwarf currently known, J1657+2638, with $T_{\rm eff}= 3550 \pm 100$K. The majority of the objects with cooling ages larger than 9 Gyr display thick disc kinematics…
1SWASP J162545.15-043027.9 (WASP 1625-04) has been announced as one of EL CVn candidates showing total primary eclipses and ellipsoidal variations. This paper presents the absolute properties of the binary star, based on our high-resolution spectroscopy conducted from 2015 through 2020. From the spectral analysis, the radial velocities (RVs) for both components were obtained with the effective temperature $T_{\rm eff,1} = 8990 \pm 200$ K and the rotational rate $v_1\sin$$i=53\pm5$ km s$^{-1}$ for the more massive primary. The RV measurements were analyzed with archival WASP photometry. From th…
We obtained time-resolved optical photometry and spectroscopy of the nova-like variable KR Aurigae in the low state. The spectrum reveals a DAB white dwarf and a mid-M dwarf companion. Using the companion star's $i$-band ellipsoidal modulation we refine the binary orbital period to be $P = 3.906519 \pm 0.000001$ h. The light curve and the spectra show flaring activity due to episodic accretion. One of these events produced brightness oscillations at a period of 27.4 min, that we suggest to be related with the rotation period of a possibly magnetic white dwarf at either 27.4 or 54.8 min. Spectr…
We present the discovery of a new double detonation progenitor system consisting of a hot subdwarf B (sdB) binary with a white dwarf companion with an P=76.34179(2) min orbital period. Spectroscopic observations are consistent with an sdB star during helium core burning residing on the extreme horizontal branch. Chimera light curves are dominated by ellipsoidal deformation of the sdB star and a weak eclipse of the companion white dwarf. Combining spectroscopic and light curve fits we find a low mass sdB star, $M_{\rm sdB}=0.383\pm0.028$ M$_\odot$ with a massive white dwarf companion, $M_{\rm W…
A Systematic Gaia--ZTF Search for Short-Period Blue Compact-Binary Candidates
School of Physics and Astronomy, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学物理学院）；CSST Science Center for the Guangdong-Hongkong-Macau Greater Bay Area, Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学粤港澳大湾区CSST科学中心）；School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Anhui Science and Technology University（安徽科技学院电气与电子工程学院）；School of Science, Shenzhen Campus of Sun Yat-sen University（中山大学深圳校区理学院）
Nearby stellar streams carry unique information on the dynamical evolution and disruption of stellar systems in the Galaxy, the mass distribution in the disk, and provide unique targets for planet formation and evolution studies. We revisit the stream discovered in Meingast et al (2019) to search for new members, using Gaia DR2 data and a machine learning approach. We use a bagging classifier of one-class Support Vector Machines to perform a search in positions and proper motions for new stream members. We use the variable prediction frequency resulting from the multitude of classifiers to est…
We analyze the full $\mathit{Kepler}$ phase curve of KOI-964, a binary system consisting of a hot white dwarf on an eclipsing orbit around an A-type host star. Using all 18 quarters of long-cadence photometry, we carry out a joint light curve fit and obtain improved phase curve amplitudes, occultation depths, orbital parameters, and transit ephemeris over the previous results of Carter et al. 2011. A periodogram of the residuals from the phase curve fit reveals an additional stellar variability signal from the host star with a characteristic period of $0.620276\pm0.000011$ days and a full ampl…
White dwarfs which exhibit transit signatures of planetary debris and accreted planetary material provide exceptional opportunities to probe the material composition and dynamical structure of planetary systems. Although previous theoretical work investigating the role of minor body disruption around white dwarfs has focussed on spherical bodies, Solar System asteroids can be more accurately modelled as triaxial ellipsoids. Here we present an analytical framework to identify the type of disruption (tidal fragmentation, total sublimation or direct impact) experienced by triaxial asteroids appro…
