27 research outputs found
Does GD 356 have a Terrestrial Planetary Companion?
GD 356 is unique among magnetic white dwarfs because it shows Zeeman-split
Balmer lines in pure emission. The lines originate from a region of nearly
uniform field strength (delta B/B is approximately 0.1) that covers 10 per cent
of the stellar surface in which there is a temperature inversion. The energy
source that heats the photosphere remains a mystery but it is likely to be
associated with the presence of a companion. Based on current models we use
archival Spitzer IRAC observations to place a new and stringent upper limit of
12 Jupiter masses for the mass of such a companion. In the light of this result
and the recent discovery of a 115 min photometric period for GD 356, we exclude
previous models that invoke accretion and revisit the unipolar inductor model
that has been proposed for this system. In this model a highly conducting
planet with a metallic core orbits the magnetic white dwarf and, as it cuts
through field lines, a current is set flowing between the two bodies. This
current dissipates in the photosphere of the white dwarf and causes a
temperature inversion. Such a planet is unlikely to have survived the RGB/AGB
phases of evolution so we argue that it may have formed from the circumstellar
disc of a disrupted He or CO core during a rare merger of two white dwarfs. GD
356 would then be a white dwarf counterpart of the millisecond binary pulsar
PSR 1257+12 which is known to host a planetary system.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, accepted by MNRA