Related papers: Interpretation and diversity of exoplanetary mater…
Approximately 25--50\% of white dwarfs (WDs) exhibit metal absorption lines in their photospheres, interpreted as evidence of ongoing/recent accretion of planetary debris from remnant systems. Previous theoretical studies have suggested…
Recent dynamical analysis based on Gaia data have revealed major accretion events in Milky Way's history. Nevertheless, our understanding of the primordial Galaxy is hindered because the bona fide identification of the most metal-poor and…
White dwarfs that have accreted planetary materials provide a powerful tool to probe the interiors and formation of exoplanets. In particular, the high Fe/Si ratio of some white dwarf pollutants suggests that they are fragments of bodies…
The relationship between stars and planets provides important information for understanding the interior composition, mineralogy, and overall classification of small planets (R $\lesssim$ 3.5R$_{\oplus}$). Since stars and planets are formed…
In the past few decades, observations have revealed signatures of metals polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs. The diffusion timescale for metals to sink from the atmosphere of a white dwarf is of the order of days for a…
Planetary systems can survive the stellar evolution, as evidenced by the atmospheric metal pollution and dusty disks of single white dwarfs. Recent observations show that 1 to 4 percent of single white dwarfs are accompanied by dusty disks,…
It is well known that newly formed planetary systems undergo processes of orbital reconfiguration and planetary migration. As a result, planets or protoplanetary objects may accrete onto the central star, being fused and mixed into its…
The analysis of noble gases in primitive meteorites has shown the existence of anomalous isotopic abundances when compared with the average Solar System values. In particular it has been found that some graphite grains contain a unexpected…
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for 89 hydrogen atmosphere (DA-type) white dwarfs with temperatures spanning 16000-77000K drawn from the FUSE spectral archive. This is the largest study to date of white dwarfs where…
Hydrogen atmosphere white dwarfs with metal lines, so-called DAZs, require external accretion of material to explain the presence of weak metal line absorption in their photospheres. The source of this material is currently unknown, but…
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for 89 hot DA white dwarfs drawn from the FUSE observation archive. These stars span the temperature range ~ 20000-70000K, and form the largest sample to-date, exceeding our earlier…
Results from detailed spectroscopic analyses of stars hosting massive planets are employed to search for trends between abundances and condensation temperatures. The elements C, S, Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni and Zn are…
Exoplanets host stars present a clear metallicity excess compared to stars without detected planets, with an average overabundance of 0.2 dex. This excess may be primordial, in which case the stars should be overmetallic down to their…
Metal pollution in white dwarf atmospheres may be the accreted remnants of planetary objects. After the discovery of disintegrating planetary objects transiting WD 1145+017 (Vanderburg et al. 2015), undergraduates in the University of…
A large proportion of observed white dwarfs (WDs) show evidence of debris disks, remnants of the former planetary systems, and/or signatures of heavy elements in their atmospheres, induced by the accretion of planetary matter onto their…
The last several years have brought about a dynamic shift in the view of exoplanetary systems in the post-main sequence, perhaps epitomized by the evidence for surviving rocky planetary bodies at white dwarfs. Coinciding with the launch of…
We measure abundances of 12 elements (Na, Mg, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni) in a sample of 86 metal-poor ($-2 \lesssim \text{[Fe/H]} \lesssim -1$) subgiant stars in the solar neighborhood. Abundances are derived from…
We discuss the detailed composition of 28 extremely metal-poor dwarfs, 22 of which are from the Hamburg/ESO Survey, based on Keck Echelle spectra. Our sample has a median [Fe/H] of -2.7 dex, extends to -3.5 dex, and is somewhat less…
Protoplanetary disks, debris disks, and disrupted or evaporating planets can all feed accretion onto stars. The photospheric abundances of such stars may then reveal the composition of the accreted material. This is especially likely in B…
High-resolution, high-signal-to-noise (<S/N> = 85) spectra have been obtained for five stars -- CD-24:17504, CD-38:245, CS 22172-002, CS 22885-096, and CS 22949-037 -- having [Fe/H] < -3.5 according to previous lower S/N material. LTE…