Related papers: White Dwarf Variability
Very precise satellite photometry has revealed a large number of variable stars whose variability is caused either by surface spots or by binarity. Detailed studies of such variables provide insights into the physics of these objects. We…
Recent Kepler photometry has revealed that about half of white dwarfs (WDs) have periodic, low-level (~ 1e-4 - 1e-3), optical variations. Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ultraviolet spectroscopy has shown that up to about one half of WDs are…
Accreting white dwarfs are often found in close binary systems with orbital periods ranging from tens of minutes to several hours. In most cases, the accretion process is relatively steady, with significant modulations only occurring on…
We investigate the origin of close-in planets and related phenomena orbiting white dwarfs (WDs), which are thought to originate from orbits more distant from the star. We use the planetary architectures of the 75 multiple-planet systems…
The Doppler effect is commonly used to infer the velocity difference between stars based on the relative shifts in the rest-frame wavelengths of their spectral features. In dynamically-cold systems with a low velocity dispersion, such as…
Deriving precise stellar ages is a challenging task. Consequently, age-dependent relations - such as the age-metallicity and age-velocity dispersion relations of the Milky Way, or the age-rotation-activity relation of low-mass stars - are…
Recent years have seen a series of large-scale photometric surveys with the aim of detecting substructure in nearby dwarf galaxies. Some of these objects display a varying distribution of each stellar population, reflecting their star…
Multi-epoch infrared photometry from Spitzer is used to monitor circumstellar discs at white dwarfs, which are consistent with disrupted minor planets whose debris is accreted and chemically reflected by their host stars. Widespread…
From an examination of ~18,000 Kepler light curves of K- and M-stars we find some 500 which exhibit rotational periods of less than 2 days. Among such stars, approximately 50 show two or more incommensurate periodicities. We discuss the…
In this paper, the first of a series, we study the stellar dynamical and evolutionary processes leading to the formation of compact binaries containing white dwarfs in dense globular clusters. We examine the processes leading to the…
The last several years have brought about a dynamic shift in the view of exoplanetary systems in the post-main sequence, perhaps epitomized by the evidence for surviving rocky planetary bodies at white dwarfs. Coinciding with the launch of…
White dwarfs are routinely observed to have polluted atmospheres, and sometimes significant infrared excesses, that indicate ongoing accretion of circumstellar dust and rocky debris. Typically this debris is assumed to be in the form of a…
The evolution of planetary systems around white dwarfs is crucial to understanding the presence of planetary material in the atmospheres of white dwarfs. These systems uniquely probe exoplanetary compositions. Periodic signals in the…
The measured rates of period change, $\dot{P}$, in the signals of pulsating white dwarf stars are often interpreted as direct detections of structural changes from secular cooling. Due to the intrinsic nature of this quantity, $\dot{P}$…
Do white dwarfs host asteroid systems? Although several lines of argument suggest that white dwarfs may be orbited by large populations of asteroids, transits would provide the most direct evidence. We demonstrate that the Kepler mission…
Optical and HI imaging of gas rich dwarfs, both dwarf irregulars (dI) and blue compact dwarfs (BCD), reveals important clues on how dwarf galaxies evolve and their star formation is regulated. Both types usually show evidence for stellar…
The current picture painted by the observations of circumstellar dust at white dwarfs, and the consequent atmospheric pollution, is of a surviving planetary system. This chapter recounts in detail both the discovery and empirical…
Recent surveys of close white dwarf binaries as well as single white dwarfs have provided evidence for the late appearance of magnetic fields in white dwarfs, and a possible generation mechanism a crystallization and rotation-driven dynamo…
Axions are the natural consequence of the introduction of the Peccei-Quinn symmetry to solve the strong CP problem. All the efforts to detect such elusive particles have failed up to now. Nevertheless, it has been recently shown that the…
M dwarfs are active stars that exhibit variability in chromospheric emission and photometry at short and long timescales, including long cycles that are related to dynamo processes. This activity also impacts the search for exoplanets…