Related papers: White dwarf masses derived from planetary nebulae …
White dwarfs typically have masses in a narrow range centered at about 0.6 solar masses (Msun). Only a few ultra-massive white dwarfs (M>1.2 Msun) are known. Those in binary systems are of particular interest because a small amount of…
The planetary nebula (PN) NGC3132 is a striking example of the dramatic but poorly understood, mass-loss phenomena that (1-8) Msun stars undergo during their death throes as they evolve into white dwarfs (WDs). From an analysis of JWST…
Double white dwarf (double-WD) binaries may merge within a Hubble time and produce high-mass WDs. Compared to other high-mass WDs, the double-WD merger products have higher velocity dispersion because they are older. With the power of Gaia…
Knowing the masses of the components of binary systems is very useful to constrain the possible scenarios that could lead to their existence. While it is sometimes possible to determine the mass of the primary star, for single-lined…
White dwarfs (WDs) can increase their mass by accretion from companion stars, provided the mass-accretion rate is high enough to avoid nova eruptions. The accretion regimes that allow growth of the WDs are usually calculated assuming…
We conduct simulations using MESA of the reverse formation of a white dwarf (WD)-neutron star (NS) binary system in which the WD forms before the NS. We conclude that a core collapse supernova (CCSN) explosion might occur inside a planetary…
Asteroid material is detected in white dwarfs (WDs) as atmospheric pollution by metals, in the form of gas/dust discs, or in photometric transits. Within the current paradigm, minor bodies need to be scattered, most likely by planets, into…
We present detailed evolutionary calculations for carbon - oxygen - and helium - core white dwarf (WD) models with masses ranging from M= 0.1 to M= 1.2 solar masses and for metallicities Z= 0.001 and Z= 0. The sequences cover a wide range…
EGB6 is an extended, faint old planetary nebula (PN) with an enigmatic nucleus. The central star (PG0950+139) is a hot DAOZ-type white dwarf (WD). An unresolved, compact emission knot was discovered to be located 0.166" away from the WD and…
We carried out a spectroscopic investigation of single lined white dwarfs (WDs) in double degenerate (DD) systems and discuss their binary evolution. Simulated spectra of the Halpha region are used to derive upper limits on the temperature…
We present the properties of the central stars from a sample of 54 Planetary Nebulae (PNe) observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) with the Hubble Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). The Hubble Space Telescope's spatial…
Masses are a fundamental parameter, but they are not well known for most hot subdwarfs. In general, the mass of a hot subdwarf is derived with asteroseismology or dynamical methods, for which it is often difficult to obtain the necessary…
The discovery of the existence of an upper bound on the mass of a white dwarf star is considered as one of the finest of twentieth century astrophysics. On approaching this limiting mass of $1.4M_\odot$, known as the Chandrasekhar…
The masses of compact objects like white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes are fundamental to astrophysics, but very difficult to measure. We present the results of an analysis of subluminous B (sdB) stars in close binary systems with…
We calculate the stellar evolution of both white dwarfs (WDs) in AM CVn binaries with orbital periods of $P_{\mathrm{orb}} \approx 5-70$ minutes. We focus on the cases where the donor starts as a $M_{\mathrm{He}} < 0.2 \, M_{\odot}$ Helium…
We argue that the recent groundbreaking discovery by Badenes et al. (2009) of a nearby (~50 pc) white dwarf-neutron star (or black hole) binary (SDSS 1257+5428) with a merger timescale ~500 Myr implies that such systems are common; we…
The densities in the cores of the neutron stars (NSs) can reach several times that of the nuclear saturation density. The exact nature of matter at these densities is still virtually unknown. We consider a number of proposed,…
Many binary companions to the central stars of planetary nebulae (PNe) are found to be inflated, perhaps indicating that accretion onto the central star might occur during the PN phase. The discovery of a handful of nova eruptions and…
The stability criteria of rapid mass transfer and common-envelope evolution are fundamental in binary star evolution. They determine the mass, mass ratio, and orbital distribution of many important systems, such as X-ray binaries, type Ia…
In this paper we consider the population of eccentric binaries with a neutron star and a white dwarf that has been revealed in our galaxy in recent years through binary pulsar observations. We apply our statistical analysis method (Kim,…