Seismology Of A Massive Pulsating Hydrogen Atmosphere White Dwarf

We report our observations of the new pulsating hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf SDSS J132350.28+010304.22. We discovered periodic photometric variations in frequency and amplitude that are commensurate with nonradial g-mode pulsations in ZZ Ceti stars. This, along with estimates for the star's temperature and gravity, establishes it as a massive ZZ Ceti star. We used time-series photometric observations with the 4.1 m SOAR Telescope, complemented by contemporary McDonald Observatory 2.1 m data, to discover the photometric variability. The light curve of SDSS J132350.28+010304.22 shows at least nine detectable frequencies. We used these frequencies to make an asteroseismic determination of the total mass and effective temperature of the star: M-star = 0.88 +/- 0.02 M-circle dot and T-eff = 12,100 +/- 140 K. These values are consistent with those derived from the the optical spectra and photometric colors.CNPqFAPERGS/PronexUS National Science Foundation AST-0909107Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program 003658-0252-2009MICINN grant AYA08-1839/ESPESF EUROCORES Program EuroGENESIS (MICINN grant) EUI2009-04170Generalitat de Catalunya 2009SGR315EU-FEDER fundsAGENCIA through the Programa de Modernizacion Tecnologica BID 1728/OC-ARCONICET PIP 112-200801-00940Astronom

The broad-band noise characteristics of selected AXPs and SGRs: Probing the magnetar coronae

We present the broad-band noise structure of Anomalous X-Ray Pulsars (AXPs) and Soft Gamma Repeaters (SGRs) in the 2-60 keV energy band which are thought to be powered by either magnetic decay(Thompson & Duncan 1995) or accretion (Alpar 2001). We have used Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (R-XTE) PCA archival light curves and derived time series for 4 AXPs and 1 SGR. We detect that AXP and SGR sources show band limited noise at low frequencies in the range 0.005-0.05 Hz. We find that this noise level can be associated with their bursts, glitches or flaring activities. We discover band-limited red noise in 1E 2259+586 only for about two years after its outburst and the associated glitch. The system shows no broad-band noise otherwise. The other three AXPs indicate a lower band-limited noise level in comparison with 1E 2259+586 and it is persistent, but show variations. We favour a model where this broad-band noise particularly as detected in 1E 2259+586 is related to the Compton scattering of thermal photons in the magnetar corona and thus reveal coronal time scales and activity

New white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10

We report the discovery of 9088 new spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs and subdwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10. We obtain Teff, log g and mass for hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAs) and helium atmosphere white dwarf stars (DBs), and estimate the calcium/helium abundances for the white dwarf stars with metallic lines (DZs) and carbon/helium for carbon-dominated spectra DQs. We found 1 central star of a planetary nebula, 2 new oxygen spectra on helium atmosphere white dwarfs, 71 DQs, 42 hot DO/PG1159s, 171 white dwarf+main-sequence star binaries, 206 magnetic DAHs, 327 continuum-dominated DCs, 397 metal-polluted white dwarfs, 450 helium-dominated white dwarfs, 647 subdwarfs and 6887 new hydrogen-dominated white dwarf stars

Magnetic white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

To obtain better statistics on the occurrence of magnetism among white dwarfs, we searched the spectra of the hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAs) in the Data Release 7 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) for Zeeman splittings and estimated the magnetic fields. We found 521 DAs with detectable Zeeman splittings, with fields in the range from around 1 to 733 MG, which amounts to 4 per cent of all DAs observed. As the SDSS spectra have low signal-to-noise ratios, we carefully investigated by simulations with theoretical spectra how reliable our detection of magnetic field was

Magnetic white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

To obtain better statistics on the occurrence of magnetism among white dwarfs, we searched the spectra of the hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAs) in the Data Release 7 of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) for Zeeman splittings and estimated the magnetic fields. We found 521 DAs with detectable Zeeman splittings, with fields in the range from around 1 to 733 MG, which amounts to 4 per cent of all DAs observed. As the SDSS spectra have low signal-to-noise ratios, we carefully investigated by simulations with theoretical spectra how reliable our detection of magnetic field was

New white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10

We report the discovery of 9088 new spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs and subdwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10. We obtain Teff, log g and mass for hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf stars (DAs) and helium atmosphere white dwarf stars (DBs), and estimate the calcium/helium abundances for the white dwarf stars with metallic lines (DZs) and carbon/helium for carbon-dominated spectra DQs. We found 1 central star of a planetary nebula, 2 new oxygen spectra on helium atmosphere white dwarfs, 71 DQs, 42 hot DO/PG1159s, 171 white dwarf+main-sequence star binaries, 206 magnetic DAHs, 327 continuum-dominated DCs, 397 metal-polluted white dwarfs, 450 helium-dominated white dwarfs, 647 subdwarfs and 6887 new hydrogen-dominated white dwarf stars