| 1. |
- Cukanovaite, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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3D spectroscopic analysis of helium-line white dwarfs
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 501:4, s. 5274-5293
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper, we present corrections to the spectroscopic parameters of DB and DBA white dwarfs with -10.0 <= log(H/He) <= -2.0, 7.5 <= log g <= 9.0, and less than or similar to T-eff less than or similar to 34 000 K, based on 282 3D atmospheric models calculated with the (COBOLD)-B-5 radiation-hydrodynamics code. These corrections arise due to a better physical treatment of convective energy transport in 3D models when compared to the previously available 1D model atmospheres. By applying the corrections to an existing Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) sample of DB and DBA white dwarfs, we find significant corrections both for effective temperature and surface gravity. The 3D log g corrections are most significant for T-eff less than or similar to 18 000 K, reaching up to -0.20 dex at log g = 8.0. However, in this low effective temperature range, the surface gravity determined from the spectroscopic technique can also be significantly affected by the treatment of the neutral van der Waals line broadening of helium and by non-ideal effects due to the perturbation of helium by neutral atoms. Thus, by removing uncertainties due to 1D convection, our work showcases the need for improved description of microphysics for DB and DBA model atmospheres. Overall, we find that our 3D spectroscopic parameters for the SDSS sample are generally in agreement with Gaia Data Release 2 absolute fluxes within 1 sigma-3 sigma for individual white dwarfs. By comparing our results to DA white dwarfs, we determine that the precision and accuracy of DB/DBA atmospheric models are similar. For ease of user application of the correction functions, we provide an example PYTHON code.
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| 2. |
- Cunningham, Tim, et al.
(författare)
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Convective overshoot and macroscopic diffusion in pure-hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs
- 2019
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : OXFORD UNIV PRESS. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 488:2, s. 2503-2522
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present a theoretical description of macroscopic diffusion caused by convective overshoot in pure-hydrogen DA white dwarfs using 3D, closed-bottom, radiation hydrodynamics (COBOLD)-B-5 simulations. We rely on a new grid of deep 3D white dwarf models in the temperature range 11 400 <= T-eff <= 18 000 K where tracer particles and a tracer density are used to derive macroscopic diffusion coefficients driven by convective overshoot. These diffusion coefficients are compared to microscopic diffusion coefficients from 1D structures. We find that the mass of the fully mixed region is likely to increase by up to 2.5 orders of magnitude while inferred accretion rates increase by a more moderate order of magnitude. We present evidence that an increase in settling time of up to 2 orders of magnitude is to be expected, which is of significance for time-variability studies of polluted white dwarfs. Our grid also provides the most robust constraint on the onset of convective instabilities in DA white dwarfs to be in the effective temperature range from 18 000 to 18 250 K.
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| 3. |
- Cunningham, Tim, et al.
(författare)
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Horizontal spreading of planetary debris accreted by white dwarfs
- 2021
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Ingår i: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 503:2, s. 1646-1667
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- White dwarfs with metal-polluted atmospheres have been studied widely in the context of the accretion of rocky debris from evolved planetary systems. One open question is the geometry of accretion and how material arrives and mixes in the white dwarf surface layers. Using the three-dimensional (3D) radiation hydrodynamics code (COBOLD)-B-5, we present the first transport coefficients in degenerate star atmospheres that describe the advection-diffusion of a passive scalar across the surface plane. We couple newly derived horizontal diffusion coefficients with previously published vertical diffusion coefficients to provide theoretical constraints on surface spreading of metals in white dwarfs. Our grid of 3D simulations probes the vast majority of the parameter space of convective white dwarfs, with pure-hydrogen atmospheres in the effective temperature range of 6000-18 000K and pure-helium atmospheres in the range of 12 000-34 000 K. Our results suggest that warm hydrogen-rich atmospheres (DA; greater than or similar to 13 000 K) and helium-rich atmospheres (DB and DBA; greater than or similar to 30 000 K) are unable to efficiently spread the accreted metals across their surface, regardless of the time dependence of accretion. This result may be at odds with the current non-detection of surface abundance variations in white dwarfs with debris discs. For cooler hydrogen- and helium-rich atmospheres, we predict a largely homogeneous distribution of metals across the surface within a vertical diffusion time-scale. This is typically less than 0.1 per cent of disc lifetime estimates, a quantity that is revisited in this paper using the overshoot results. These results have relevance for studies of the bulk composition of evolved planetary systems and models of accretion disc physics.
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| 4. |
- Izquierdo, Paula, et al.
(författare)
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Fast spectrophotometry of WD 1145+017
- 2018
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Ingår i: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 481:1, s. 703-714
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- WD 1145+017 is currently the only white dwarf known to exhibit periodic transits of planetary debris as well as absorption lines from circumstellar gas. We present the first simultaneous fast optical spectrophotometry and broad-band photometry of the system, obtained with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC) and the Liverpool Telescope, respectively. The observations spanned 5.5 h, somewhat longer than the 4.5-h orbital period of the debris. Dividing the GTC spectrophotometry into five wavelength bands reveals no significant colour differences, confirming grey transits in the optical. We argue that absorption by an optically thick structure is a plausible alternative explanation for the achromatic nature of the transits that can allow the presence of small-sized (~µm) particles. The longest (87 min) and deepest (50 per cent attenuation) transit recorded in our data exhibits a complex structure around minimum light that can be well modelled by multiple overlapping dust clouds. The strongest circumstellar absorption line, Fe II λ5169, significantly weakens during this transit, with its equivalent width reducing from a mean out-of-transit value of 2 to 1 Å in-transit, supporting spatial correlation between the circumstellar gas and dust. Finally, we made use of the Gaia Data Release 2 and archival photometry to determine the white dwarf parameters. Adopting a helium-dominated atmosphere containing traces of hydrogen and metals, and a reddening E(B - V) = 0.01 we find T_eff=15 020 ± 520 K, log g = 8.07 ± 0.07, corresponding to M_WD=0.63± 0.05 M☉ and a cooling age of 224 ± 30 Myr.
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| 5. |
- Marigo, Paola, et al.
(författare)
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Carbon star formation as seen through the non-monotonic initial-final mass relation
- 2020
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Ingår i: Nature Astronomy. - : NATURE RESEARCH. - 2397-3366. ; 4:11, s. 1102-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The initial-final mass relation (IFMR) links the birth mass of a star to the mass of the compact remnant left at its death. While the relevance of the IFMR across astrophysics is universally acknowledged, not all of its fine details have yet been resolved. A new analysis of a few carbon-oxygen white dwarfs in old open clusters of the Milky Way led us to identify a kink in the IFMR, located over a range of initial masses, 1.65 less than or similar to M-i/M-circle dot less than or similar to 2.10. The kink's peak in white dwarf mass of about 0.70-0.75 M(circle dot)is produced by stars withM(i) approximate to 1.8-1.9 M-circle dot, corresponding to ages of about 1.8-1.7 Gyr. Interestingly, this peak coincides with the initial mass limit between low-mass stars that develop a degenerate helium core after central hydrogen exhaustion, and intermediate-mass stars that avoid electron degeneracy. We interpret the IFMR kink as the signature of carbon star formation in the Milky Way. This finding is critical to constraining the evolution and chemical enrichment of low-mass stars, and their impact on the spectrophotometric properties of galaxies. An analysis of the relation between a star's initial mass and its final mass (as a white dwarf) reveals a kink in the initial mass range 1.65-2.10 M-circle dot. This kink appears to correspond to the minimum mass required for carbon star formation in the Milky Way at solar metallicity.
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| 6. |
- Serenelli, Aldo, et al.
(författare)
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Weighing stars from birth to death : mass determination methods across the HRD
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics Review. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0935-4956 .- 1432-0754. ; 29:1
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The mass of a star is the most fundamental parameter for its structure, evolution, and final fate. It is particularly important for any kind of stellar archaeology and characterization of exoplanets. There exist a variety of methods in astronomy to estimate or determine it. In this review we present a significant number of such methods, beginning with the most direct and model-independent approach using detached eclipsing binaries. We then move to more indirect and model-dependent methods, such as the quite commonly used isochrone or stellar track fitting. The arrival of quantitative asteroseismology has opened a completely new approach to determine stellar masses and to complement and improve the accuracy of other methods. We include methods for different evolutionary stages, from the pre-main sequence to evolved (super)giants and final remnants. For all methods uncertainties and restrictions will be discussed. We provide lists of altogether more than 200 benchmark stars with relative mass accuracies between [0.3 , 2] % for the covered mass range of M∈[0.1,16]M⊙, 75 % of which are stars burning hydrogen in their core and the other 25 % covering all other evolved stages. We close with a recommendation how to combine various methods to arrive at a “mass-ladder” for stars.
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