Related papers: Two almost planetary mass survivors of common enve…
We determine the orbits of four double degenerate systems (DDs), composed of two white dwarfs, and of two white dwarf -- M dwarf binaries. The four DDs, WD1022+050, WD1428+373, WD1824+040, and WD2032+188, show orbital periods of 1.157155(5)…
We report the discovery of the ultracompact hot subdwarf (sdOB) binary OW J074106.0-294811.0 with an orbital period of P$_{\rm orb}=44.66279\pm1.16\times10^{-4}$ min, making it the most compact hot subdwarf binary known. Spectroscopic…
We describe the evolution of double degenerate binary systems, consisting of components obeying the zero temperature mass radius relationship for white dwarf stars, from the onset of mass transfer to one of several possible outcomes…
Hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars in close binaries with white dwarf (WD) companions are potential progenitors of double-detonation thermonuclear supernovae. The recently discovered system PTF1 J2238+7430 is a candidate for this evolutionary…
I introduce the two classes of pulsar, white-dwarf binaries, and describe for each what we have learned from a specific system, PSR J1012+5307 and PSR B0655+64, respectively, summarising what has been done, presenting new results, and…
We study the evolution of close binary systems in order to account for the existence of the recently observed binary system containing the most massive millisecond pulsar ever detected, PSR J0740+6620, and its ultra-cool helium white dwarf…
Virtually all close compact binary stars are formed through common-envelope (CE) evolution. It is generally accepted that during this crucial evolutionary phase a fraction of the orbital energy is used to expel the envelope. However, it is…
We report the discovery and analysis of PTF1 J085713+331843, a new eclipsing post common-envelope detached white-dwarf red-dwarf binary with a 2.5h orbital period discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory. ULTRACAM multicolour photometry…
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…
We present the initial-final mass relation derived from 10 white dwarfs in wide binaries that consist of a main sequence star and a white dwarf. The temperature and gravity of each white dwarf was measured by fitting theoretical model…
Double white dwarf (DWD) mergers are possibly the leading formation channel of massive, rapidly rotating, high-field magnetic white dwarfs (HFMWDs). However, the direct link connecting a DWD merger to any observed HFMWD is still missing. We…
We present high-resolution spectroscopy of two nearby white dwarfs with inconsistent spectroscopic and parallax distances. The first one, PG 1632+177, is a 13th magnitude white dwarf only 25.6 pc away. Previous spectroscopic observations…
We construct a set of binary evolutionary sequences for systems composed by a normal, solar composition, donor star together with a neutron star. We consider a variety of masses for each star as well as for the initial orbital period…
We present the results of a search for deeply-eclipsing white dwarfs in the ZTF Data Release 4. We identify nine deeply-eclipsing white dwarf candidates, four of which we followed up with high-cadence photometry and spectroscopy. Three of…
Using Keck laser guide star adaptive optics imaging, we have found that the T9 dwarf WISE J1217+1626 and T8 dwarf WISE J1711+3500 are exceptional binaries, with unusually wide separations (~0.8 arcsec, 8-15 AU), large near-IR flux ratios…
Pulsars in close, eccentric binary systems are usually assumed to have another neutron star as a companion. These double neutron star binaries have proven to be the best laboratories for experimental General Relativity and are the most…
The recently discovered system Gaia 0007-1605 consisting of a white dwarf with a close brown dwarf companion and a distant white dwarf tertiary very much resembles the triple system containing the first transiting planet candidate around a…
Magnitude-limited samples have shown that 20-25 per cent of cataclysmic variables contain white dwarfs with magnetic fields of Mega Gauss strength, in stark contrast to the approximately 5 per cent of single white dwarfs with similar…
We identify SDSS J130033.48+590407.0 as a common proper motion companion to the well-studied DA white dwarf PG 1258+593 (GD322). The system lies at a distance of 68 +/- 3 pc, where the angular separation of 16.1 +/- 0.1 arcsec corresponds…
An XMM-Mewton observation performed in May 2008 has confirmed that the 13 seconds pulsations in the X-ray binary HD 49798/RX J0648.0-4418 are due to a rapidly rotating white dwarf. From the pulse time delays induced by the 1.55 days orbital…