Related papers: Ensemble Evolutionary Studies of White Dwarfs in O…
The detection of brown dwarfs in globular star clusters will allow us to break the degeneracies in age, mass and composition that affect our current models, and therefore to constrain the physics of their atmospheres and interiors.…
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS), originally targeted at quasi-stellar objects, has provided us with a wealth of astronomical byproducts through the last decade. Since then, the number of white dwarfs (WDs) with physically bound…
Context. Understanding the survival and orbital evolution of brown dwarf (BD) companions during the post-main-sequence (MS) evolution of their host stars is increasingly important, especially with recent discoveries of many substellar…
Asteroid material is detected in white dwarfs (WDs) as atmospheric pollution by metals, in the form of gas/dust discs, or in photometric transits. Within the current paradigm, minor bodies need to be scattered, most likely by planets, into…
We suggest that Jovian planets will survive the late stages of stellar evolution, and that white dwarfs will retain planetary systems in wide orbits (>5AU). Utilising evolutionary models for Jovian planets, we show that infra-red imaging…
Context: White dwarfs (WDs) are important and abundant tools to study the structure and evolution of the Galactic environment. However, the multiplicity of WD progenitors is generally neglected. Specifically, a merger in a binary system can…
White dwarfs with infrared excess emission provide a window into the late stages of stellar evolution and the dynamics of circumstellar environments. Using data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment (HETDEX), we…
We review the formation and evolution of compact binary stars consisting of white dwarfs (WDs), neutron stars (NSs), and black holes (BHs). Binary NSs and BHs are thought to be the primary astrophysical sources of gravitational waves (GWs)…
With the imminent start of the Legacy Survey for Space and Time (LSST) on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, and several new space telescopes expected to begin operations later in this decade, both time domain and wide-field astronomy are on…
The outer regions of globular clusters can enable us to answer many fundamental questions concerning issues ranging from the formation and evolution of clusters and their multiple stellar populations to the study of stars near and beyond…
White dwarf stars have been used for decades as precise and accurate age indicators. This work presents a test of the reliability of white dwarf total ages when spectroscopic observations are available. We conduct follow-up spectroscopy of…
Binary stars are common in star clusters and galaxies, but the detailed effects of binary evolution are not taken into account in some colour-magnitude diagram (CMD) studies. This paper studies the CMDs of twelve globular clusters via…
We describe spectroscopic observations of 21 low-mass (<0.45 M_sun) white dwarfs (WDs) from the Palomar-Green Survey obtained over four years. We use both radial velocities and infrared photometry to identify binary systems, and find that…
It is possible to reliably identify white dwarfs (WDs) without recourse to spectra, instead using photometric and astrometric measurements to distinguish them from Main Sequence stars and quasars. WDs' colours can also be used to infer…
Although cluster dwarf galaxies are often neglected due to their faintness, recent observations demonstrate that they are critical for understanding the physical processes behind galaxy and cluster formation. Dwarfs are the most common…
The magnetic white dwarfs (MWDs) are found either isolated or in interacting binaries. They divide into two groups: a high field group (0.1-1,000MegaGauss) comprising some 13% of all white dwarfs (WDs), and a low field group (B<0.1MG) whose…
WIMPs can be captured in compact stars such as white dwarves (WDs) leading to an increase in the star luminosity through their annihilation process. We show that when the WIMP interacts with the nuclear targets within the WD through…
Despite the recent discoveries of planets orbiting stars at all evolutionary stages, the evolution of planetary systems remains poorly understood. Studying planetary systems around red giant branch stars can reveal how main sequence…
Studies of the resolved stellar populations in nearby systems are crucial to understand galaxy evolution. Here, we summarize how the interpretation of the colour-magnitude diagrams of field stars in late-type dwarfs inside and outside the…
We present the first spectra obtained with the Very Large Telescope for white dwarfs in a globular cluster. Estimates of atmospheric parameters are obtained and compared to evolutionary tracks. We discuss possible implications for the…