Related papers: Asynchronous accretion can mimic diverse white dwa…
White dwarfs are compact objects with atmospheres containing mainly light elements, hydrogen or helium. Because of their surface high gravitational field, heavy elements diffuse downwards in a very short timescale compared to the…
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,…
White dwarfs have atmospheres that are expected to consist nearly entirely of hydrogen and helium, since heavier elements will sink out of sight on short timescales. However, observations have revealed atmospheric pollution by heavier…
The inwards scattering of planetesimals towards white dwarfs is expected to be a stochastic process with variability on human time-scales. The planetesimals tidally disrupt at the Roche radius, producing dusty debris detectable as excess…
About 25-50% of white dwarfs (WDs) show metal lines in their spectra. Among the widely accepted explanations for this effect is that the these WDs are accreting asteroids that are perhaps flung onto the WDs by a planet via resonance, for…
Exoplanet surveys around M dwarfs have detected a growing number of exoplanets with Earth-like insolation. It is expected that some of those planets are rocky planets with the potential for temperate climates favourable to surface liquid…
White dwarf stars frequently experience external pollution by heavy elements, and yet the intrinsically carbon-enriched DQ spectral class members fail to exhibit this phenomenon, representing a decades-old conundrum. This study reports a…
A large fraction of white dwarfs (WDs) have metal-polluted atmospheres, which are produced by accreting material from remnant planetary systems. The composition of the accreted debris broadly resembles that of rocky Solar System objects.…
(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…
A re-evaluation of time-averaged accretion rates at DBZ-type white dwarfs points to historical, time-averaged rates significantly higher than the currently observed episodes at their DAZ counterparts. The difference between the ongoing,…
Between 25-50 % of white dwarfs (WD) present atmospheric pollution by metals, mainly by rocky material, which has been detected as gas/dust discs, or in the form of photometric transits in some WDs. Planets might be responsible for…
Field-channelled accretion flows occur in a variety of astrophysical objects, including T Tauri stars,magnetic cataclysmic variables and X-ray pulsars. We consider a curvilinear coordinate system and derive a general hydrodynamic…
The photospheric metal pollution of white dwarfs is now well-established as the signature of the accretion of planetary debris. However, the origin of the trace hydrogen detected in many white dwarfs with helium atmospheres is still…
The presence of a planetary system can shield a planetesimal disk from the secular gravitational perturbations due to distant outer massive objects (planets or stellar companions). As the host star evolves off the main sequence to become a…
It was recently proposed that metal-rich white dwarfs (WDs) accrete their metals from compact debris disks found to exist around more than a dozen of them. At the same time, elemental abundances measured in atmospheres of some WDs imply…
Planetary systems that orbit white dwarf stars can be studied via spectroscopic observations of the stars themselves. Numerous white dwarfs are seen to have accreted mostly rocky minor planets, the remnants of which are present in the…
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…
White dwarfs are the end state of most stars, including the Sun, after they exhaust their nuclear fuel. Between 1/4 and 1/2 of white dwarfs have elements heavier than helium in their atmospheres, even though these elements should rapidly…
Infrared studies have revealed debris likely related to planet formation in orbit around ~30% of youthful, intermediate mass, main sequence stars. We present evidence, based on atmospheric pollution by various elements heavier than helium,…
The infrared dust emission from the white dwarf GD 56 is found to rise and fall by 20% peak-to-peak over 11.2 yr, and is consistent with ongoing dust production and depletion. It is hypothesized that the dust is produced via collisions…