English

Limb-Darkening Coefficients for Eclipsing White Dwarfs

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2015-06-12 v2

Abstract

We present extensive calculations of linear and non-linear limb-darkening coefficients as well as complete intensity profiles appropriate for modeling the light-curves of eclipsing white dwarfs. We compute limb-darkening coefficients in the Johnson-Kron-Cousins UBVRI photometric system as well as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) ugrizy system using the most up-to-date model atmospheres available. In all, we provide the coefficients for seven different limb-darkening laws. We describe the variations of these coefficients as a function of the atmospheric parameters, including the effects of convection at low effective temperatures. Finally, we discuss the importance of having readily available limb-darkening coefficients in the context of present and future photometric surveys like the LSST, Palomar Transient Factory, and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). The LSST, for example, may find ~10^5 eclipsing white dwarfs. The limb-darkening calculations presented here will be an essential part of the detailed analysis of all of these systems.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1301.7091,
  title  = {Limb-Darkening Coefficients for Eclipsing White Dwarfs},
  author = {A. Gianninas and B. D. Strickland and Mukremin Kilic and P. Bergeron},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1301.7091},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

303 pages, 8 figures, 12 tables, accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

R2 v1 2026-06-21T23:17:31.622Z