English

White Dwarf Variability with gPhoton: Pulsators

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2017-12-27 v1

Abstract

We present results from a search for short time-scale white dwarf variability using \texttt{gPhoton}, a time-tagged database of \textit{GALEX} photon events and associated software package. We conducted a survey of 320320 white dwarf stars in the McCook-Sion catalogue, inspecting each for photometric variability with particular emphasis on variability over time-scales less than 30\sim 30 minutes. From that survey, we present the discovery of a new pulsating white dwarf: WD 2246-069. A Ca II K line is found in archival ESO spectra and an IR excess is seen in WISE W1W1 and W2W2 bands. Its independent modes are identified in follow-up optical photometry and used to model its interior structure. Additionally, we detect UV pulsations in four previously known pulsating ZZ Ceti-type (DAVs). Included in this group is the simultaneous fitting of the pulsations of WD 1401-147 in optical, near-ultraviolet and far-ultraviolet bands using nearly concurrent Whole Earth Telescope and \textit{GALEX} data, providing observational insight into the wavelength dependence of white dwarf pulsation amplitudes.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1712.07146,
  title  = {White Dwarf Variability with gPhoton: Pulsators},
  author = {Michael A. Tucker and Scott W. Fleming and Ingrid Pelisoli and Alejandra Romero and Keaton J. Bell and S. O. Kepler and Daniel B. Caton and John Debes and Michael H. Montgomery and Susan E. Thompson and Detlev Koester and Chase Million and Bernie Shiao},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1712.07146},
  year   = {2017}
}

Comments

13 pages, 15 figures, 6 tables. Accepted by MNRAS

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