Related papers: Quantifying systematic uncertainties in white dwar…
Atmospheric parameters for hot DB (helium atmosphere) white dwarfs near effective temperatures of 25000K are extremely difficult to determine from optical spectroscopy. This is particularly unfortunate, because this is the range of variable…
Currently there are two main techniques for independently determining the ages of stellar populations: main sequence evolution theory (via cluster isochrones) and white dwarf cooling theory. Open clusters provide the ideal environment for…
As they evolve, white dwarfs undergo major changes in surface composition, a phenomenon known as spectral evolution. In particular, some stars enter the cooling sequence with helium atmospheres (type DO) but eventually develop hydrogen…
The photospheres of the coolest helium-atmosphere white dwarfs are characterized by fluid-like densities. Under those conditions, standard approximations used in model atmosphere codes are no longer appropriate. Unfortunately, the majority…
In the era of modern digital sky surveys, uncertainties in the flux of stellar standards are commonly the dominant systematic error in photometric calibration and can often affect the results of higher-level experiments. The Hubble Space…
We present a large forward-modeling analysis for 55 late-T (T7-T9) dwarfs, using low-resolution ($R\approx150$) near-infrared spectra and cloudless Sonora-Bobcat model atmospheres. We derive the objects' effective temperatures, surface…
The white dwarfs are promising laboratories for the study of cosmochronology and stellar evolution. Through observations of the pulsating white dwarfs, we can measure their internal structures and compositions, critical to understanding…
We present deep photometric observations of the open cluster NGC 2477 using HST/WFPC2. By identifying seven cluster white dwarf candidates, we present an analysis of the white dwarf age of this cluster, using both the traditional method of…
A detailed analysis of halo white dwarf candidates is presented, which is based on model atmosphere fits to observed energy distributions built from photoelectric or photographic magnitudes. Most of the candidates identified in reduced…
We present Hubble Space Telescope UV spectra of the 4.6 h period double white dwarf SDSS J125733.63+542850.5. Combined with Sloan Digital Sky Survey optical data, these reveal that the massive white dwarf (secondary) has an effective…
We present 4.5$\mu$m and 8$\mu$m photometric observations of 18 cool white dwarfs obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Our observations demonstrate that four white dwarfs with T_eff< 6000 K show slightly depressed mid-infrared fluxes…
We present high precision, model independent, mass and radius measurements for 16 white dwarfs in detached eclipsing binaries and combine these with previously published data to test the theoretical white dwarf mass-radius relationship. We…
Deriving metallicities for solar-like stars follows well-established methods, but for cooler stars such as M dwarfs, the determination is much more complicated due to forests of molecular lines that are present. Several methods have been…
Gaia Data Release 2 revealed a population of ultramassive white dwarfs on the Q branch that are moving anomalously fast for a local disc population with their young photometric ages. As the velocity dispersion of stars in the local disc…
We present full evolutionary calculations appropriate for the study of hot hydrogen-deficent DO white dwarfs, PG 1159 stars, and DB white dwarfs. White dwarf sequences are computed for a wide range of stellar masses and helium envelopes on…
We describe a new multi-colour proper motion survey for cool white dwarfs (CWDs). The observational database consists of ~300 digitally scanned Schmidt plates in ESO/SERC field 287. The entire survey procedure, from the raw Schmidt plate…
We discuss the impact of residual nuclear burning in the cooling sequences of hydrogen-rich DA white dwarfs with very low metallicity progenitors ($Z=0.0001$). These cooling sequences are appropriate for the study of very old stellar…
We increase the spectroscopic completeness of the 100 pc white dwarf sample in the SDSS footprint with 840 additional spectra. Our spectroscopy is 86% complete for white dwarfs hotter than $T_{\rm eff}= 5000$ K, where H$\alpha$ remains…
We test state-of-the-art model atmospheres for young very low-mass stars and brown dwarfs in the infrared, by comparing the predicted synthetic photometry over 1.2-24 {\mu}m to the observed photometry of M-type spectral templates in…
We have been using Keck laser guide star adaptive optics to monitor the orbits of ultracool binaries, providing dynamical masses at lower luminosities and temperatures than previously available and enabling strong tests of theoretical…