Related papers: Accurate mass and radius determinations of a cool …
A substellar-mass object in orbit at about 300 astronomical units (AU) from the young low-mass star G196-3 was detected by direct imaging. Optical and infrared photometry and low- and intermediate-resolution spectroscopy of the faint…
We present EVR-CB-001, the discovery of a compact binary with an extremely low mass ($.21 \pm 0.05 M_{\odot}$) helium core white dwarf progenitor (pre-He WD) and an unseen low mass ($.32 \pm 0.06 M_{\odot}$) helium white dwarf (He WD)…
Aims: I test the ejection scenario of formation of brown dwarfs and very low-mass stars through the detection of a very wide ultracool binary. Methods: LEHPM 494 (M6.0 +/- 1.0 V) and DENIS-P J0021.0-4244 (M9.5 +/- 0.5 V) are separated by…
We present the discovery of what appears to be both a uniquely cool and old white dwarf within 30 parsecs of the sun. DES J214756.46-403529.3 is detected in four separate surveys, 50 degrees away from the Galactic Plane. The combination of…
We have used the 2MASS all-sky survey and the WISE to look for ultracool dwarfs that are part of multiple systems containing main sequence stars. We cross-matched L dwarf candidates from the surveys with Hipparcos and Gliese stars, finding…
Masses are a fundamental parameter, but they are not well known for most hot subdwarfs. In general, the mass of a hot subdwarf is derived with asteroseismology or dynamical methods, for which it is often difficult to obtain the necessary…
In this paper we present the discovery of a highly unequal-mass eclipsing M-dwarf binary, providing a unique constraint on binary star formation theory and on evolutionary models for low-mass binary stars. The binary is discovered using…
Binaries that contain a hot subdwarf (sdB) star and a main sequence companion may have interacted in the past. This binary population has historically helped determine our understanding of binary stellar evolution. We have computed a grid…
We report on photometric and spectroscopic observations of white dwarf companions to four binary radio millisecond pulsars, leading to the discovery of companions to PSRs J0614-3329, J1231-1411 and J2017+0603. We place limits on the…
Cool white dwarf stars are usually found to have an outer atmosphere that is practically pure in hydrogen or helium. However, a small fraction have traces of heavy elements that must originate from the accretion of extrinsic material, most…
We have discovered that the brown dwarf WISEJ014656.66+423410.0 is a close binary (0.0875$\pm$0.0021 arcsec, 0.93$^{+0.12}_{-0.16}$ AU) from Keck laser guide star adaptive optics imaging. Our photometry for this system reveals that both…
Optical observations of the companions of pulsars can help determine the properties of the binaries, as well as those of their components, and give clues to the preceding evolution. In this review, we first describe the different classes of…
The formation and evolution of brown dwarfs are currently "hot topics" in cool star research. Latest observations and modeling efforts on disks, accretion, outflows, spatial distribution, and binarity in the context of the formation by…
Substellar objects, like planets and brown dwarfs orbiting stars, are by-products of the star formation process. The evolution of their host stars may have an enourmous impact on these small companions. Vice versa a planet might also…
Hot subdwarf B stars (sdBs) are evolved core helium-burning stars with very thin hydrogen envelopes. In order to form an sdB, the progenitor has to lose almost all of its hydrogen envelope right at the tip of the red giant branch. In binary…
We report the discovery of a bright (V=11.6 mag) eclipsing hot subdwarf binary of spectral type B with a late main sequence companion from the All Sky Automated Survey (ASAS 102322-3737.0). Such systems are called HW Vir stars after the…
We have undertaken a detailed near-IR spectroscopic analysis of eight notable white dwarfs, predominantly of southern declination. In each case the spectrum failed to reveal compelling evidence for the presence of a spatially unresolved,…
The formation of subdwarf B (sdB) stars is not well understood within the current framework of stellar single and binary evolution. In this study, we focus on the formation and evolution of the pulsating sdB star in the very short-period…
White dwarfs represent the endpoint of stellar evolution for stars with initial masses between approximately 0.07 msun and 8-10 msun, where msun is the mass of the Sun (more massive stars end their life as either black holes or neutron…
A photometric study in combination with existing stellar models has revealed details of this eclipsing post-mass-transfer binary. The shell star has an equatorial/ polar radius of ~2.60/1.90 Rsun at an equatorial rotational velocity of ~430…