1,106 research outputs found
Evidence for an external origin of heavy elements in hot DA white dwarfs
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for 89 hydrogen
atmosphere (DA-type) white dwarfs with temperatures spanning 16000-77000K drawn
from the FUSE spectral archive. This is the largest study to date of white
dwarfs where radiative forces are significant, exceeding our earlier work,
based mainly on IUE and HST data, by a factor three. Using heavy element
blanketed non-LTE stellar atmosphere calculations, we have addressed the heavy
element abundance patterns making completely objective measurements of
abundance values and their error ranges using a \c{hi}2 fitting technique. We
are able to establish the broad range of abundances seen in a given temperature
range and establish the incidence of stars which appear, in the optical, to be
atmospherically devoid of any material other than H. We compare the observed
abundances to predictions of radiative levitation calculations, revealing
little agreement. We propose that the supply of heavy elements is accreted from
external sources rather than being intrinsic to the star. These elements are
then retained in the white dwarf atmospheres by radiative levitation, a model
that can explain both the diversity of measured abundances for stars of similar
temperature and gravity, including cases with apparently pure H envelopes, and
the presence of photospheric metals at temperatures where radiative levitation
is no longer effective.Comment: 23 pages. 13 Figures, 4 Tables. Accepted for publication in the
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
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Planetary scientist Joanna Barstow explains why she worked on news website The Conversation and how it has benefited her work
A search for hidden white dwarfs in the ROSAT EUV survey II: Discovery of a distant DA+F6/7V binary system in a direction of low density neutral hydrogen
We report the results of our final search for hot white dwarfs in unresolved,
Sirius-type, binary systems with IUE. One new system, RE J0500-364 (DA+F6/7V),
has been identified. This star appears to lie at a distance of between
500-1000pc, making it one of the most distant white dwarfs, if not the most
distant, to be detected in the EUV surveys. The very low line-of-sight neutral
hydrogen volume density to this object could place a lower limit on the length
of the Beta CMa interstellar tunnel of diffuse gas, which stretches away from
the Local Bubble in a similar direction to RE J0500-364.Comment: 1 LaTex file plus 15 figures; accepted for publication in Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Societ
A photospheric metal line profile analysis of hot DA white dwarfs with circumstellar material
Some hot DA white dwarfs have circumstellar high ion absorption features in
their spectra, in addition to those originating in the photosphere. In many
cases, the line profiles of these absorbing components are unresolved. Given
the importance of the atmospheric composition of white dwarfs to studies of
stellar evolution, extra-solar planetary systems and the interstellar medium,
we examine the effect of including circumstellar line profiles in the abundance
estimates of photospheric metals in six DA stars. The photospheric C and Si
abundances are reduced in five cases where the circumstellar contamination is
strong, though the relative weakness of the circumstellar Si IV absorption
introduces minimal contamination, resulting in a small change in abundance. The
inability of previous, approximate models to reproduce the photospheric line
profiles here demonstrates the need for a technique that accounts for the
physical line profiles of both the circumstellar and photospheric lines when
modelling these blended absorption features.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figues, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRA
Effective area calibration of the reflection grating spectrometers of XMM-Newton. II. X-ray spectroscopy of DA white dwarfs
White dwarf spectra have been widely used as a calibration source for X-ray
and EUV instruments. The in-flight effective area calibration of the reflection
grating spectrometers (RGS) of XMM-Newton depend upon the availability of
reliable calibration sources. We investigate how well these white dwarf spectra
can be used as standard candles at the lowest X-ray energies in order to gauge
the absolute effective area scale of X-ray instruments. We calculate a grid of
model atmospheres for Sirius B and HZ 43A, and adjust the parameters using
several constraints until the ratio of the spectra of both stars agrees with
the ratio as observed by the low energy transmission grating spectrometer
(LETGS) of Chandra. This ratio is independent of any errors in the effective
area of the LETGS. We find that we can constrain the absolute X-ray spectrum of
both stars with better than 5 % accuracy. The best-fit model for both stars is
close to a pure hydrogen atmosphere, and we put tight limits to the amount of
helium or the thickness of a hydrogen layer in both stars. Our upper limit to
the helium abundance in Sirius B is 4 times below the previous detection based
on EUVE data. We also find that our results are sensitive to the adopted
cut-off in the Lyman pseudo-continuum opacity in Sirius B. We get best
agreement with a long wavelength cut-off. White dwarf model atmospheres can be
used to derive the effective area of X-ray spectrometers in the lowest energy
band. An accuracy of 3-4 % in the absolute effective area can be achieved.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy &
Astrophysics, main journa
Towards a standardised line list for G191-B2B, and other DA type objects
We present a comprehensive analysis of the far UV spectrum of G191-B2B over
the range of 900-1700{\AA} using co-added data from the FUSE and STIS archives.
While previous identifications made by Holberg et al. (2003) are reaffirmed in
this work, it is found that many previously unidentified lines can now be
attributed to Fe, Ni, and a few lighter metals. Future work includes extending
this detailed analysis to a wider range of DA objects, in the expectation that
a more complete analysis of their atmospheres can be realised.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 table: To appear in the proceedings of the
"18th European White Dwarf Workshop" in Krakow, Poland, 201
The status and future of EUV astronomy
The Extreme Ultraviolet wavelength range was one of the final windows to be
opened up to astronomy. Nevertheless, it provides very important diagnostic
tools for a range of astronomical objects, although the opacity of the
interstellar medium restricts the majority of observations to sources in our
own galaxy. This review gives a historical overview of EUV astronomy, describes
current instrumental capabilities and examines the prospects for future
facilities on small and medium-class satellite platforms.Comment: Published in Advances in Space Researc
Chandra grating spectroscopy of three hot white dwarfs
High-resolution soft X-ray spectroscopic observations of single hot white
dwarfs are scarce. With the Chandra Low-Energy Transmission Grating, we have
observed two white dwarfs, one is of spectral type DA (LB 1919) and the other
is a non-DA of spectral type PG1159 (PG 1520+525). The spectra of both stars
are analyzed, together with an archival Chandra spectrum of another DA white
dwarf (GD 246). The soft X-ray spectra of the two DA white dwarfs are
investigated in order to study the effect of gravitational settling and
radiative levitation of metals in their photospheres. LB 1919 is of interest
because it has a significantly lower metallicity than DAs with otherwise
similar atmospheric parameters. GD 246 is the only white dwarf known that shows
identifiable individual iron lines in the soft X-ray range. For the PG1159
star, a precise effective temperature determination is performed in order to
confine the position of the blue edge of the GW Vir instability region in the
HRD. (abridged)Comment: A&A, in pres
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