Related papers: Spectroscopic Analysis of the White Dwarf KUV 0219…
A sequence of pure-hydrogen CO5BOLD 3D model atmospheres of DA white dwarfs is presented for a surface gravity of log g = 8 and effective temperatures from 6000 to 13,000 K. We show that convective properties, such as flow velocities,…
The Y-dwarf WISE 1828+2650 is one of the coldest known Brown Dwarfs with an effective temperature of $\sim$300 K. Located at a distance of just 10 pc, previous model-based estimates suggest WISE1828+2650 has a mass of $\sim$5-10 Mj, making…
A near-infrared excess is detected at the white dwarf PHL5038 in UKIDSS photometry, consistent with the presence of a cool, substellar companion. We have obtained H- and K-grism spectra and images of PHL5038 using NIRI on Gemini North. The…
We have observed the eclipsing, post-common envelope white dwarf-brown dwarf binary, SDSS141126.20+200911.1, in the near-IR with the HAWK-I imager, and present here the first direct detection of the dark side of an irradiated brown dwarf in…
White dwarf stars have been used for decades as precise and accurate age indicators. This work presents a test of the reliability of white dwarf total ages when spectroscopic observations are available. We conduct follow-up spectroscopy of…
We report the discovery of an eclipsing binary -- PTF1 J072456$+$125301-- composed of a subdwarf B (sdB) star ($g'=17.2^m$) with a faint companion. Subdwarf B stars are core helium-burning stars, which can be found on the extreme horizontal…
Using high resolution UVES spectra of the eclipsing Post Common Envelope Binary QS Vir we detect material along the line of sight to the white dwarf at orbital phase $\phi=0.16$. We ascribe this to a stellar prominence originating from the…
This paper reports the ULTRACAM discovery of dipolar surface spots in two cool magnetic white dwarfs with Balmer emission lines, while a third system exhibits a single spot, similar to the prototype GD 356. The light curves are modeled with…
We investigate the evolution of a binary system which initially has an orbital period of 2^h 17^m and contains a 0.5 M_sun helium star with a white dwarf companion of 0.97 M_sun, similarly to suggested SN Ia candidate progenitor KPD…
We perform binary evolution calculations on helium star - carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) binaries using the stellar evolution code MESA. This single degenerate channel may contribute significantly to thermonuclear supernovae at short…
(Abridged) Highly unequal-mass ratio binaries are rare among field brown dwarfs, with the known census described by q^(4.9+/-0.7). However, such systems can test the joint accuracy of evolutionary and atmospheric models, under the…
Our preliminary results from laboratory experiments studying white dwarf (WD) photospheres show a systematic difference between experimental plasma conditions inferred from measured H$\beta$ absorption line profiles versus those from…
Binary evolution theory predicts that the second common envelope (CE) ejection can produce low-mass (0.32-0.36 Msun) subdwarf B (sdB) stars inside ultrashort-orbital-period binary systems, as their helium cores are ignited under…
We present spectra of the DAB white dwarf PG1115+166. Radial velocity measurements of the Balmer lines and the HeI6678 line show that this is a binary white dwarf with a period of 30.09d in which the Balmer lines move in anti-phase to the…
We present a high signal-to-noise (SNR $\sim$ 450), high-dispersion ($R \equiv \lambda / \Delta \lambda \sim 28\,000$) H- and K-band spectroscopic atlas of the L7.5 and T0.5 components of the Luhman 16AB binary (WISE…
Helium star - carbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) binaries are potential single-degenerate progenitor systems of thermonuclear supernovae. Revisiting a set of binary evolution calculations using the stellar evolution code $\texttt{MESA}$, we…
We investigate the dissociation equilibrium of $\rm H_2$ in very cool, helium-rich white dwarf atmospheres. We present the solution of the non-ideal chemical equilibrium for the dissociation of molecular hydrogen in a medium of dense…
RX J0806.3+1527 is suspected to be a double-degenerate white dwarf binary. We present first results of our NLTE analysis of its optical spectrum. The VLT/FORS1 data show a composite spectrum consisting of a blue continuum and superimposed…
We are searching for new He atmosphere white dwarf pulsators (DBVs) based on the newly found white dwarf stars from the spectra obtained by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. DBVs pulsate at hotter temperature ranges than their better known…
We present high-resolution VLT spectra of a new helium-rich DO white dwarf and a new PG1159 star, which we identified in the ESO SPY survey. We performed NLTE model atmosphere analyses and found that the PG1159 star is a low-gravity,…