Related papers: First discovery of trans-iron elements in a DAO-ty…
The metal abundances in the atmospheres of hot white dwarfs (WDs) entering the cooling sequence are determined by the preceding Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) evolutionary phase and, subsequently, by the onset of gravitational settling and…
About a dozen hot white dwarfs with effective temperatures Teff = 65,000-120,000 K exhibit unusual absorption features in their optical spectra. These objects were tentatively identified as Rydberg lines of ultra-high excited metals in…
Spectral analyses of hot, compact stars with NLTE (non-local thermodynamical equilibrium) model-atmosphere techniques allow the precise determination of photospheric parameters. The derived photospheric metal abundances are crucial…
Spectra of unevolved metal-poor halo stars uniquely reflect the elemental abundances incorporated during the earliest Galactic epoch. Their heavy-element content is well understood as the products of neutron capture on iron-peak elements.…
We present a phenomenological study of highly ionised, non-photospheric absorption features in high spectral resolution vacuum ultraviolet spectra of 23 hot DA white dwarfs. Prior to this study, four of the survey objects (Feige 24, REJ…
We present a detailed spectroscopic analysis of the hot DA white dwarf G191-B2B, using the best signal to noise, high resolution near and far UV spectrum obtained to date. This is constructed from co-added \textit{HST} STIS E140H, E230H,…
The relatively high abundance of carbon in the hot DO white dwarf RE0503-289 indicates that it is a descendant of a PG1159 star. This is corroborated by the recent detection of the extremely high abundances of trans-Fe elements which stem…
Accurate atomic data is an essential ingredient for the calculation of reliable non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) model atmospheres that are mandatory for the spectral analysis of hot stars. We aim to search for and identify for…
We present a study of the iron abundance pattern in hot hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs. The study is based on new and archival far ultraviolet spectroscopy of a sample of white dwarfs in the temperature range 30,000 K < T_eff < 64,000 K.…
We report on the spectroscopic confirmation of 68 new bright ($G=13.5-17.2$ mag) and blue (pre-)white dwarfs (WDs). This finding has allowed us to almost double the number of the hottest ($T_{\mathrm{eff}} \geq 60$kK) known WDs brighter…
We report three new barium (Ba) dwarfs lying in Sirius-like systems, which provides direct evidence that Ba dwarfs are companions to white dwarfs (WDs). Atmospheric parameters, stellar masses, and chemical abundances of 25 elements,…
We have analyzed FUSE observations of six hot white dwarf stars: four DA white dwarfs with T_eff >= 45000K, the DAO Feige55 (T_eff = 55000K), and the DA CD -38 10980 (T_eff = 24000K). Photospheric lines from SiIV, PV, and SVI can be…
We present a series of systematic abundance measurements for a group of hot DA white dwarfs in the temperature range 20,000-75,000K, based on far-UV spectroscopy with STIS on HST, IUE and FUSE. Using our latest heavy element blanketed…
A total of 81 DA white dwarfs have been observed with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope in a snapshot program. The targets were selected to be in the $T_{\rm eff}$ range from 17000 - 25000 K, where optical metal…
We have obtained new detailed abundances of the Fe-group elements Sc through Zn (Z=21-30) in three very metal-poor ([Fe/H] $\approx -3$) stars: BD 03 740, BD -13 3442 and CD -33 1173. High-resolution ultraviolet HST/STIS spectra in the…
About 10% of all stars exhibit absorption lines of ultra-high excited (UHE) metals (e.g. OVIII) in their optical spectra when entering the white dwarf cooling sequence. The recent discovery of a both spectroscopic and photometric variable…
For a fraction of single white dwarfs with debris disks, an additional gaseous disk was discovered. Both dust and gas are thought to be created by the disruption of planetary bodies. The composition of the extrasolar planetary material can…
Two recently discovered white dwarfs, WDJ041246.84$+$754942.26 and WDJ165335.21$-$100116.33, exhibit H$\alpha$ and H$\beta$ Balmer line emission similar to stars in the emerging DAHe class, yet intriguingly have not been found to have…
Using newly obtained high-resolution data ($R\sim{1\times{10}^{5}}$) from the \textit{Hubble Space Telescope}, and archival UV data from the \textit{Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer} we have conducted a detailed UV survey of the three…
We report on seven peculiar faint blue stars found in the course of the Hamburg/ESO survey (HES) which appear to be magnetic white dwarfs (WDs) with non-hydrogen spectra. We show in particular that four of them (HE 0338-3853, HE 0107-0158,…