Related papers: Two New Variable Hot DQ Stars

We present photometry of 11 and spectroscopy of 35 potential cataclysmic variables from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, the Catalina Real-Time Transient Survey and vsnet-alerts. The photometry results include quasi-periodic oscillations…

We describe radial velocity observations of a large sample of apparently single white dwarfs (WDs), obtained in a long-term effort to discover close, double-degenerate (DD) pairs which might comprise viable Type Ia Supernova (SN Ia)…

We present the discovery of strongly variable emission lines from a gaseous disc around the DA white dwarf SDSS J1617+1620, a star previously found to have an infrared excess indicative of a dusty debris disc formed by the tidal disruption…

Optically bright, wide separation double (gravitationally lensed) quasars can be easily monitored, leading to light curves of great importance in determining the Hubble constant and other cosmological parameters, as well as the structure of…

Recent years have witnessed the discovery of many low-mass ($\lesssim 0.45 M_{\odot}$) white dwarf (WD) stars --- expected to harbor He cores--- in the field of the Milky Way and in several galactic globular and open clusters. Recently,…

We report the discovery of a nearby, old, halo white dwarf candidate from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. SDSS J110217.48+411315.4 has a proper motion of 1.75 arcsec/year and redder optical colors than all other known featureless (type DC)…

The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims to find sdBs with compact companions like massive white dwarfs, neutron stars or black holes. Here we provide classifications, atmospheric…

Binaries of two white dwarfs (WDs) are an important class of astrophysical objects that are theorized to lead to Type Ia supernovae and are also used to gain insight into complex processes involved in stellar binary evolution. We report the…

We present a method to reliably select variable white dwarfs from large area time domain surveys and apply this method in a pilot study to search for pulsating white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Stripe 82. From a sample 400…

We present medium-resolution VLT/FORS2 spectroscopy of six cataclysmic variables discovered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We determine orbital periods for SDSS J023322.61+005059.5 (96.08 +/- 0.09 min), SDSS J091127.36+084140.7 (295.74…

Secondary stars in cataclysmic variables (CVs) follow a well defined period-density relation. Thus, canonical donor stars in CVs are generally low-mass stars of spectral type M. However, several CVs have been observed containing secondary…

We discuss our targeted search for hypervelocity stars (HVSs), stars traveling with velocities so extreme that dynamical ejection from a massive black hole is their only suggested origin. Our survey, now half complete, has successfully…

We present spectroscopy of seven cataclysmic variable stars with orbital periods P(orb) greater than 5 hours, all but one of which are known to be dwarf novae. Using radial velocity measurements we improve on previous orbital period…

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has obtained images in five broad-band colors for several hundred square degrees. We present color-color diagrams for stellar objects, and demonstrate that quasars are easily distinguished from stars by their…

We present our results on the continuation of our survey searching for new ZZ Ceti stars, inspired by the recently launched TESS space mission. The seven targets were bright DA-type white dwarfs located close to the empirical ZZ Ceti…

White dwarfs carry information on the structure and evolution of the Galaxy, especially through their luminosity function and initial-to-final mass relation. Very cool white dwarfs provide insight into the early ages of each population.…

We present the first full evolutionary calculations aimed at exploring the origin of hot DQ white dwarfs. These calculations consistently cover the whole evolution from the born-again stage to the white dwarf cooling track. Our calculations…

The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims at finding hot subdwarf stars with massive compact companions (massive white dwarfs M>1.0 Msun, neutron stars or stellar mass black holes). The…

We present a catalog of 9316 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 4. We have selected the stars through photometric cuts and spectroscopic modeling, backed up by a set of visual…

We report the discoveries of the two-image gravitationally lensed quasars, SDSS J0746+4403 and SDSS J1406+6126, selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). SDSS J0746+4403, which will be included in our lens sample for statistics and…