Related papers: Accretion in the detached post-common-envelope bin…
We obtained photometric observations of the nova-like cataclysmic variable RW Tri and gathered all available AAVSO and other data from the literature. We determined the system parameters and found their uncertainties using the code…
We have made extensive spectroscopic and photometric observations of PG 1224+309, a close binary containing a DA white dwarf primary and an M4+ secondary. The H alpha line is in emission due to irradiation of the M-star by the hot white…
Two new magnetic white dwarf accretion binaries with extremely low mass-transfer rates have been discovered in the course of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Measured magnetic fields are 42 MG and 57 MG, and one system orbits with a period of…
When a white dwarf (WD) is weakly magnetized and its accretion disk is thin, accreted material first reaches the WD's surface at its equator. This matter slows its orbit as it comes into co-rotation with the WD, dissipating kinetic energy…
How are accretion discs affected by their outflows? To address this question for white dwarfs accreting from cool giants, we performed optical, radio, X-ray, and ultraviolet observations of the outflow-driving symbiotic star MWC 560 (=V694…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
HD~5501, a hitherto little studied eclipsing binary with an early A-type primary, has been caught in a short-lived, astrophysically interesting phase of its binary evolution. Recent photometric and spectroscopic observations, including…
White dwarfs that have accreted planetary bodies are a powerful probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. In this paper, we present a Bayesian model to explain the abundances observed in the atmospheres of 202 DZ white dwarfs…
Over a quarter of white dwarfs have photospheric metal pollution, which is evidence for recent accretion of exoplanetary material. While a wide range of mechanisms have been proposed to account for this pollution, there are currently few…
We report on a large X-ray flare from the Lindroos binary system HD 560 during a pointed ROSAT PSPC observation. Strong magnetic activity is expected for the late-type component (a G dwarf star and post-T Tauri Star candidate). The system…
Accretion disks in white dwarf systems are believed to be tilted. In a recent publication, the lift force has been suggested to be a source to disk tilt, a source that is likely relevant to all accretion disk systems. Lift is generated by…
The accretion of planetary debris into the atmospheres of white dwarfs leads to the presence of metal lines in their spectra. Cool metal-rich white dwarfs, which left the main-sequence many Gyr ago, allow the study of the remnants of the…
We report the first comprehensive study of emission line variability in an accreting young brown dwarf. We have collected 14 high-resolution optical spectra of 2MASSW J1207334-393254 (M8), a likely member of the nearby 8-million-year-old TW…
In an XMM-Newton observation of the binary SDSS J121209.31+013627.7, consisting of a white dwarf and an L dwarf, we detect X-ray orbital modulation as proof of accretion from the substellar companion onto the magnetic white dwarf. We…
We report the first $BV$ light curves and high-resolution spectra of the post-mass transfer binary star WASP 0131+28 to study the absolute properties of extremely low-mass white dwarfs. From the observed spectra, the double-lined radial…
We have discovered T Tauri stars which show startling spectral variability between observations seperated by 20 years. In spectra published by Bouvier & Appenzeller (1992) these objects showed very weak H-alpha emission, broad CaII…
Eclipsing close double white dwarf (WD) systems provide a unique opportunity to directly constrain hydrogen-envelope retention and test common-envelope (CE) evolution in low-mass stars, since they allow precise determinations of stellar…
A quarter of DA white dwarfs are metal polluted, yet elements heavier than helium sink down through the stellar atmosphere on timescales of days. Hence, these white dwarfs must be currently accreting material containing heavy elements.…
White dwarfs with metal-polluted atmospheres have been studied widely in the context of the accretion of rocky debris from evolved planetary systems. One open question is the geometry of accretion and how material arrives and mixes in the…
This is a White Paper in support of the mission concept of the Large Observatory for X-ray Timing (LOFT), proposed as a medium-sized ESA mission. We discuss the potential of LOFT for the study of accreting white dwarfs. For a summary, we…