Related papers: The Frequency of Debris Disks at White Dwarfs
Spitzer Space Observatory IRAC and MIPS photometric observations are presented for 20 white dwarfs with T < 20,000 K and metal-contaminated photospheres. A warm circumstellar disk is detected at GD 16 and likely at PG 1457-086, while the…
Planet frequency shows a strong positive correlation with host mass from the hydrogen-burning limit to M ~ 2Msun. No search has yet been conducted for planets of higher-mass hosts because all existing techniques are insensitive to these…
(Abridged) We present the results of the first unbiased survey for metal pollution among H-atmosphere (DA) white dwarfs with cooling ages of 20-200 Myr and 17000K < Teff < 27000K, using HST COS in the far UV between 1130 and 1435 A. The…
White dwarfs whose atmospheres are polluted by terrestrial-like planetary debris have become a powerful and unique tool to study evolved planetary systems. This paper presents results for an unbiased Spitzer IRAC search for circumstellar…
We present a population synthesis model which addresses the different mass distributions of the metal-polluted and non-metal-polluted hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs identified in volume-limited samples. Specifically, metal-pollution has…
This paper presents combined ${\it Spitzer}$ IRAC and ${\it Hubble}$ COS results for a double-blind survey of 195 single and 22 wide binary white dwarfs for infrared excesses and atmospheric metals. The selection criteria include cooling…
Spitzer Space Telescope IRAC 3-8 micron and AKARI IRC 2-4 micron photometry are reported for ten white dwarfs with photospheric heavy elements; nine relatively cool stars with photospheric calcium, and one hotter star with a peculiar high…
Here, we present near-infrared spectroscopic observations of 15 helium atmosphere, metal-rich white dwarfs obtained at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility. While a connection has been demonstrated between the most highly polluted, hydrogen…
1-3 per cent of white dwarfs are orbited by planetary dusty debris detectable as infrared emission in excess above the white dwarf flux. In a rare subset of these systems, a gaseous disc component is also detected via emission lines of the…
We present HST ultraviolet spectroscopy of the white dwarfs PG0843+516, PG1015+161, SDSS1228+1040, and GALEX1931+0117, which accrete circumstellar planetary debris formed from the destruction of asteroids. Combined with optical data, a…
Spitzer IRAC observations of 15 metal-polluted white dwarfs reveal infrared excesses in the spectral energy distributions of HE 0110-5630, GD 61, and HE 1349-2305. All three of these stars have helium-dominated atmospheres, and their…
The incidence of dusty debris disks around low- and intermediate-mass stars has been investigated numerous times in order to understand the early stages of planet formation. Most notably, the IRAS mission observed the entire sky at mid- and…
As the descendants of stars with masses less than 8 M$_{\odot}$ on the main sequence, white dwarfs provide a unique way to constrain planetary occurrence around intermediate-mass stars (spectral types BAF) that are otherwise difficult to…
Since giant planets scatter planetesimals within a few tidal radii of their orbits, the locations of existing planetesimal belts indicate regions where giant planet formation failed in bygone protostellar disks. Infrared observations of…
White dwarfs that accrete the debris of tidally disrupted asteroids provide the opportunity to measure the bulk composition of the building blocks, or fragments, of exoplanets. This technique has established a diversity in compositions…
We report the discovery of excess K-band radiation from a metal-rich DAV white dwarf star, WD1150-153. Our near infrared spectroscopic observations show that the excess radiation cannot be explained by a (sub)stellar companion, and is…
We report the complete photometric results from our Herschel study which is the first comprehensive program to search for far-infrared emission from cold dust around young brown dwarfs. We surveyed 50 fields containing 51 known or suspected…
Infrared excesses around metal polluted white dwarfs have been associated with the accretion of dusty, planetary material. This work analyses the available infrared data for an unbiased sample of white dwarfs and demonstrates that no more…
Observations of planetary material polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs are an important probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. Medium- and high-resolution optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy of seven white dwarfs…
We present preliminary limits on the presence of planets around white dwarf stars using the IRAC photometer on the Spitzer space telescope. Planets emit strongly in the mid-infrared which allows their presence to be detected as an excess at…