2,222 research outputs found
An empirical initial-final mass relation from hot, massive white dwarfs in NGC 2168 (M35)
The relation between the zero-age main sequence mass of a star and its
white-dwarf remnant (the initial-final mass relation) is a powerful tool for
exploration of mass loss processes during stellar evolution. We present an
empirical derivation of the initial-final mass relation based on spectroscopic
analysis of seven massive white dwarfs in NGC 2168 (M35). Using an internally
consistent data set, we show that the resultant white dwarf mass increases
monotonically with progenitor mass for masses greater than 4 solar masses, one
of the first open clusters to show this trend. We also find two massive white
dwarfs foreground to the cluster that are otherwise consistent with cluster
membership. These white dwarfs can be explained as former cluster members
moving steadily away from the cluster at speeds of <~0.5 km/s since their
formation and may provide the first direct evidence of the loss of white dwarfs
from open clusters. Based on these data alone, we constrain the upper mass
limit of WD progenitors to be >=5.8 solar masses at the 90% confidence level
for a cluster age of 150 Myr.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
Journal Letters. Contains some acknowledgements not in accepted version (for
space reasons), otherwise identical to accepted versio
Do Magnetic Fields Prevent Hydrogen from Accreting onto Cool Metal-line White Dwarf Stars?
It is generally assumed that metals detected in the spectra of a few cool
white dwarfs cannot be of primordial origin and must be accreted from the
interstellar medium. However, the observed abundances of hydrogen, which should
also be accreted from the interstellar medium, are lower than expected from
metal accretion. Magnetic fields are thought to be the reason for this
discrepancy. We have therefore obtained circular polarization spectra of the
helium-rich white dwarfs GD40 and L745-46A, which both show strong metal lines
as well as hydrogen. Whereas L745-46A might have a magnetic field of about
-6900 G, which is about two times the field strength of 3000G necessary to
repell hydrogen at the Alfen radius, only an upper limit for the field strength
of GD40 of 4000G (with 99% confidence) can be set which is far off the minimum
field strength of 144000G to repell hydrogen.Comment: 4 LaTeX pages, 4 eps figures, to appear in the proceedings of the
14th European Workshop on White Dwarfs, eds. D. Koester and S. Moehler, ASP
Conf. Serie
Model atmosphere analysis of the extreme DQ white dwarf GSC2U J131147.2+292348
A new model atmosphere analysis for the peculiar DQ white dwarf discovered by
Carollo et al. (2002) is presented. The effective temperature and carbon
abundance have been estimated by fitting both the photometric data
(UBJ,VRF,IN,JHK) and a low resolution spectrum (3500<lambda<7500 A) with a new
model grid for helium-rich white dwarfs with traces of carbon (DQ stars). We
estimate Teff ~ 5120 +/- 200 K and log[C/He] ~ -5.8 +/- 0.5, which make GSC2U
J131147.2+292348 the coolest DQ star ever observed. This result indicates that
the hypothetical transition from C2 to C2H molecules around Teff = 6000 K,
which was inferred to explain the absence of DQ stars at lower temperatures,
needs to be reconsidered.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and
Astrophysics Letter
Evidence of Rocky Planetesimals Orbiting Two Hyades Stars
The Hyades is the nearest open cluster, relatively young and containing
numerous A-type stars; its known age, distance, and metallicity make it an
ideal site to study planetary systems around 2-3 Msun stars at an epoch similar
to the late heavy bombardment. Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet
spectroscopy strongly suggests ongoing, external metal pollution in two remnant
Hyads. For ongoing accretion in both stars, the polluting material has
log[n(Si)/n(C)] > 0.2, is more carbon deficient than chondritic meteorites, and
is thus rocky. These data are consistent with a picture where rocky
planetesimals and small planets have formed in the Hyades around two
main-sequence A-type stars, whose white dwarf descendants bear the scars. These
detections via metal pollution are shown to be equivalent to infrared excesses
of Lir/L* ~ 1e-6 in the terrestrial zone of the stars.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures, 2 tables, accepted to MNRA
XMM-Newton observations of EF Eridani: the textbook example of low-accretion rate polars
Archival X-ray observations of EF Eridani obtained in a low state revealed
distinct X-ray detections at a luminosity L_X ~ 2 10^{29} erg/s, three orders
of magnitude below its high state value. The plasma temperature was found to be
as low as kT \loa 2 keV, a factor 10 below the high state. The X-ray/UV/IR
spectral energy distribution suggests faint residual accretion rather than
coronal emission as being responsible for the low-state X-ray emission. EF Eri
thus showed a clear transition from being shock-dominated in the high state to
be cyclotron-dominated in the low state. From the optical/UV spectral energy
distribution we re-determine the photospheric temperature of the white dwarf to
\~10000K. Contrary to earlier claims, WD model atmospheres produce sufficient
UV flux to reproduce the published GALEX flux and orbital modulation.Comment: A&A, in pres
The use of a conventional wind tunnel as a multigas facility
Hypersonic and supersonic wind tunnels as continuous flow multigas facilitie
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