Limits on Planets Around White Dwarf Stars
Astrophysics
2008-01-22 v1
Abstract
We present limits on planetary companions to pulsating white dwarf stars. A subset of these stars exhibit extreme stability in the period and phase of some of their pulsation modes; a planet can be detected around such a star by searching for periodic variations in the arrival time of these pulsations. We present limits on companions greater than a few Jupiter masses around a sample of 15 white dwarf stars as part of an on-going survey. One star shows a variation in arrival time consistent with a 2 M_J planet in a 4.5 year orbit. We discuss other possible explanations for the observed signal and conclude that a planet is the most plausible explanation based on the data available.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0801.3104,
title = {Limits on Planets Around White Dwarf Stars},
author = {F. Mullally and D. E. Winget and Steven Degennaro and Elizabeth Jeffery and S. E. Thompson and Dean Chandler},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0801.3104},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
19 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ