Related papers: The ELM Survey. II. Twelve Binary White Dwarf Merg…
We present the culmination of our near-infrared survey of the optically spectroscopically identified white dwarf stars from the McCook & Sion catalog, conducted using photometric data from the Two Micron All Sky Survey final All Sky Data…
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…
We present a catalog of periodic stellar variability in the "Stripe 82" region of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). After aggregating and recalibrating catalog-level data from the survey, we ran a period-finding algorithm (Supersmoother)…
We present analysis of Hubble Space Telescope images of 82 nearby field late-M and L dwarfs. We resolve 13 of these systems into double M/L dwarf systems and identify an additional possible binary. Combined with previous observations of 20…
We assess the photometric variability of nine stars with spectroscopic Teff and log(g) values from the ELM Survey that locate them near the empirical extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarf instability strip. We discover three new pulsating…
First results are presented for a Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys snapshot study of white dwarfs with likely red dwarf companions. Of 48 targets observed and analyzed so far, 27 are totally or partially resolved into two…
Extremely low-mass white dwarf (ELM WD; $M_{\star}$ $\lesssim$ $0.18-0.20\ $ $M_{\odot}$) stars are thought to be formed in binary systems via stable or unstable mass transfer. Although stable mass transfer predicts the formation of ELM WDs…
We present radial velocity observations of four binary white dwarf candidates identified through their over-luminosity. We identify two new double-lined spectroscopic binary systems, WD 0311-649 and WD 1606+422, and constrain their orbital…
Double white dwarfs (DWDs) are by far the most common compact binaries in the Milky Way, are important low-frequency gravitational-wave sources, and in some cases merge to become Type Ia supernovae. So far, no DWD has been identified solely…
Binary systems consisting of a white dwarf and a main-sequence companion with orbital periods up to $\approx 100$ d are often thought to be formed through common envelope evolution which is still poorly understood. To provide new…
Wide-field time-domain photometric sky surveys are now finding hundreds of eclipsing white dwarf plus M dwarf binaries, a population encompassing a wealth of information and potential insight into white dwarf and close binary astrophysics.…
Stellar mergers are one important path to highly magnetised stars. Mergers of two low-mass white dwarfs may create up to every third hot subdwarf star. The merging process is usually assumed to dramatically amplify magnetic fields. However,…
We use multi-epoch spectroscopy of about 4000 white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to constrain the properties of the Galactic population of binary white dwarf systems and calculate their merger rate. With a Monte Carlo code, we…
We present an updated version of the spectroscopic catalogue of white dwarf-main sequence (WDMS) binaries from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). We identify 939 WDMS binaries within the data releases (DR) 9-12 of SDSS plus 40 objects…
We have measured the orbital parameters of seven close binaries, including six new objects, in a radial velocity survey of 38 objects comprising a hot subdwarf star with orbital periods ranging from ~0.17 to 3 d. One new system, GALEX…
The project Massive Unseen Companions to Hot Faint Underluminous Stars from SDSS (MUCHFUSS) aims at finding hot subdwarf stars with massive compact companions like massive white dwarfs (M > 1.0 Msun), neutron stars or stellar mass black…
We have conducted a search for pulsar companions to 15 low-mass white dwarfs (LMWDs; M < 0.4 M_Sun) at 820 MHz with the NRAO Green Bank Telescope (GBT). These LMWDs were spectroscopically identified in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS),…
Approximately 150 low-mass white dwarfs, with masses below 0.4Msun, have been discovered. The majority of these low-mass WDs are observed in binary systems as they cannot be formed through single-star evolution within the Hubble time. In…
We report the discovery of two new pulsating extremely low-mass (ELM) white dwarfs (WDs), SDSS J161431.28+191219.4 (hereafter J1614) and SDSS J222859.93+362359.6 (hereafter J2228). Both WDs have masses <0.25 Msun and thus likely harbor…
We obtain new and precise information on the double white dwarf (DWD) population and on its gravitational-wave-driven merger rate, by combining the constraints on the DWD population from two previous radial-velocity-variation studies: One…