Related papers: Hot DQ White Dwarf Stars: A New Challenge to Stell…

We have undertaken a detailed near-IR spectroscopic analysis of eight notable white dwarfs, predominantly of southern declination. In each case the spectrum failed to reveal compelling evidence for the presence of a spatially unresolved,…

We have performed a census of the UV-bright population in 78 globular clusters using wide-field UV telescopes. This population includes a variety of phases of post-horizontal branch (HB) evolution, including hot post-asymptotic giant branch…

White dwarfs are stellar embers depleted of nuclear energy sources that cool over billions of years. These stars, which are supported by electron degeneracy pressure, reach densities of 1e7 grams per cubic centimetre in their cores. It has…

WD 1145+017 is the first white dwarf known to be orbited by disintegrating exoasteroids. It is a DBZ-type white dwarf with strongly variable broad circumstellar lines and variable shallow UV transits. Various models of the dust clouds and…

Evolved stars with a helium core can be formed by non-conservative mass exchange interaction with a companion or by strong mass loss. Their masses are smaller than 0.5 MSun. In the database of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), there are…

We present the results of a search for pulsations in six of the recently discovered carbon-atmosphere white dwarf ("hot DQ") stars. Based on our theoretical calculations, the star SDSS J142625.71+575218.3 is the only object expected to…

We present a model to account for the observed debris disks around young white dwarfs and the presence of metal-lines in their spectra. Stellar evolution models predict that the mass-loss on the AGB will be pulsed; furthermore, observations…

Atmospheric carbon has been detected in the optical spectra of six hydrogen-rich ultra-massive white dwarfs, revealing large carbon abundances (log C/H > $-$0.5) attributable to the convective dredge-up of internal carbon into thin hydrogen…

White dwarfs and neutron stars are stellar objects with masses comparable to that of our sun. However, as the endpoint stages of stellar evolution, these objects do not sustain any thermonuclear burning and therefore can no longer support…

Hot subdwarfs are considered to be the compact helium cores of red giants, which lost almost their entire hydrogen envelope. What causes this enormous mass loss is still unclear. Binary interactions are invoked and a significant fraction of…

We present new spectroscopic observations of the polluted, dusty, helium-dominated atmosphere white dwarf star HE1349-2305. Optical spectroscopy reveals weak CaII infrared triplet emission indicating that metallic gas debris orbits and is…

Most observations of polluted white dwarf atmospheres are consistent with accretion of water depleted planetary material. Among tens of known cases, merely two cases involve accretion of objects that contain a considerable mass fraction of…

White dwarf stars are subject to various element transport mechanisms that can cause their surface composition to change radically as they cool, a phenomenon known as spectral evolution. In this paper, we undertake a comprehensive…

We present optical spectroscopy and near-infrared photometry of 126 cool white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Our sample includes high proper motion targets selected using the SDSS and USNO-B astrometry and a dozen…

As main-sequence stars with C$>$O, dwarf carbon (dC) stars are never born alone but inherit carbon-enriched material from a former asymptotic giant branch (AGB) companion. In contrast to M dwarfs in post-mass transfer binaries, C$_2$ and/or…

Over an interval of 120 years, the extraordinary object FG Sge has been transformed from a hot post-AGB star to a very luminous cool supergiant. Theoretically, this evolution has been associated with the reignition of a helium-shell during…

White dwarfs are the end state of the evolution of more than 97% of all stars, and therefore carry information on the structure and evolution of the Galaxy through their luminosity function and initial-to-final mass relation. Examining the…

We present ugriz photometry and optical spectroscopy for 28 DB and DO white dwarfs with temperatures between 28,000K and 45,000K. About 10 of these are particularly well-observed; the remainder are candidates. These are the hottest DB stars…

The evolution of central stars of planetary nebulae can proceed in several distinct ways, either leading to H-deficiency or to H-normal surface composition. Several new simulations of the evolution channels that lead to H-deficiency are now…

ZZ Ceti stars form the most numerous group of degenerate variable stars. They are otherwise normal DA (H-rich atmospheres) white dwarfs that exhibit pulsations. Here, we present an asteroseismological analysis for 44 bright ZZ Ceti stars…