Related papers: An Upper Bound to the Space Density of Interstella…
High resolution HI observations of nearby dwarf galaxies (most of which are situated in the M 81 group at a distance of about 3.2 Mpc) reveal that their neutral interstellar medium (ISM) is dominated by hole-like features most of which are…
Due to their high photospheric density, cool helium-rich white dwarfs (particularly DZ, DQpec and ultracool) are often poorly described by current atmosphere models. As part of our ongoing efforts to design atmosphere models suitable for…
White dwarf stars composed of carbon, oxygen or heavier elements are expected to crystallize as they cool down below certain temperatures. Yet, simple arguments suggest that the helium white dwarf cores may not solidify, mostly because of…
Since white dwarfs are small, the contrast between the thermal emission of an orbiting object and a white dwarf is dramatically enhanced compared to a main sequence host. Furthermore, rocky objects much smaller than the moon have no…
Starless molecular cores are natural laboratories for interstellar molecular chemistry research. The chemistry of ices in such objects was investigated with a three-phase (gas, surface, and mantle) model. We considered the center part of…
Motivated by recent measurements which suggest that roughly half the mass of the galactic halo may be in the form of white dwarfs, we study the implications of such a halo. We first use current limits on the infrared background light and…
In this paper we compute detailed evolutionary models providing chemical profiles for white dwarfs having progenitors in the mass range from 1.0 to $7 M_{\sun}$ and we examine the influence of such profiles in the cooling process. The…
The evolution of white dwarfs is essentially a cooling process that depends primarily on the energy stored in their degenerate cores and on the transparency of their envelopes. In this paper we compute accurate cooling sequences for…
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…
When the neutral interstellar medium is exposed to EUV and soft X ray radiation, the argon atoms in it are far more susceptible to being ionized than the hydrogen atoms. We make use of this fact to determine the level of ionization in the…
The helium-atmosphere (DB) white dwarfs are commonly thought to be the descendants of the hotter PG 1159 stars, which initially have uniform He/C/O atmospheres. In this evolutionary scenario, diffusion builds a pure He surface layer which…
Extreme helium stars are very rare low-mass supergiants in a late stage of evolution. They are probably contracting to become white dwarfs following a violent phase of evolution which caused them to become hydrogen-deficient giants,…
We present theoretical analysis on old white dwarf stars with \emph{some} hydrogen, that possess a mass of surface hydrogen from $1\times10^{-11}M_{\sun}$ to $1\times10^{-7}M_{\sun}$. The evolution of such objects is complicated by…
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…
Based on a compilation of OVI, CIV, SiIV and NV data from IUE, FUSE, GHRS, STIS, and COS, we derive an anti- correlation between the stellar temperature and the high ion velocity shift w.r.t. to the photosphere, with positive (resp.…
Stars consume hydrogen in their interiors but, generally speaking, their surfaces continue to contain some 70% hydrogen (by mass) throughout their lives. Nevertheless, many types of star can be found with hydrogen-deficient surfaces, in…
We investigate the evolution of cooling helium atmosphere white dwarfs using a full evolutionary code, specifically developed for following the effects of element diffusion and gravitational settling on white dwarf cooling. The major…
Stars form in the Galaxy with a wide range in mass. If the mass is below 7% of the Sun's, then the object does not become hot enough for stable hydrogen burning. These substellar objects are called brown dwarfs. Maps of the sky at infrared…
The accretion of comets onto DA white dwarfs can produce observable metal absorption lines. We show here that comet systems around the progenitor main sequence star are vulnerable to being lost during asymptotic giant branch mass loss, if…
Taking advantage of the Gaia Data Release 2, recent studies have revisited the evolution of carbon-polluted white dwarfs (DQs) across a large range of effective temperatures. These analyses have clearly confirmed the existence of two…