Related papers: White Dwarfs in Omega Centauri: Preliminary Eviden…
The GSC-II white dwarf survey was designed to identify faint and high proper motion objects, which we used to define a new and independent sample of cool white dwarfs. With this survey we aim to derive new constraints on the halo white…
We present photometric and spectroscopic studies of the white dwarf (WD) populations in the intermediate-age open clusters NGC 6633 and NGC 7063 as part of the ongoing Lick-Arizona White Dwarf Survey (LAWDS). Using wide-field CCD imaging,…
We explore the metallicity distribution function (MDF) of red giant stars in Omega Centauri from a catalogue of Washington M, T_2 and DDO51 photometry covering over 1.1 deg^2 outside the cluster core. Using updated calibrations of giant…
We begin the search for extremely-low mass ($M\leq0.3M_{\odot}$, ELM) white dwarfs (WDs) in the southern sky based on photometry from the VST ATLAS and SkyMapper surveys. We use a similar color-selection method as the Hypervelocity star…
Close binary systems are the progenitors to both Type Ia supernovae and the compact object mergers that can be detected via gravitational waves. To achieve a binary with a small radial separation, it is believed that the system likely…
The next generation of spectroscopic surveys is expected to provide spectra for hundreds of thousands of white dwarf (WD) candidates in the upcoming years. Currently, spectroscopic classification of white dwarfs is mostly done by visual…
We discuss the possibility to detect O/Ne white dwarfs by evidence for Ne overabundances. The hottest known WD, H1504+65, could be the only single WD for which we might be able to proof its O/Ne nature directly. Apart from this, strong Ne…
We examine the claim by Oppenheimer et al. (2001) that the local halo density of white dwarfs is an order of magnitude higher than previously thought. As it stands, the observational data support the presence of a kinematically distinct…
Infrared (IR) excess emission around white dwarfs (WDs) is commonly attributed to circumstellar debris disks and/or low-mass companions, providing a unique window into the evolution of planetary systems and binary evolution after the…
Historically, photometry has been largely used to identify stellar populations (MPs) in Globular Clusters (GCs) by using diagrams that are based on colours and magnitudes that are mostly sensitive to stars with different metallicities or…
$\omega$ Centauri, the most massive globular cluster in the Milky Way, has long been suspected to be the stripped nucleus of a dwarf galaxy that fell into the Galaxy a long time ago. There is considerable evidence for this scenario…
We have performed a census of disks around brown dwarfs in the Sigma Ori cluster using all available images from IRAC onboard the Spitzer Space Telescope. To search for new low-mass cluster members with disks, we have measured photometry…
The discovery of a population of high proper motion white dwarfs by Oppenheimer et al (2001) has caused a lot of speculation as to the origin of these stars. I show that the age distribution of the white dwarfs offers a kind of sanity check…
We present new medium-band uvby Stromgren and broad-band VI photometry for the central regions of the globular cluster Omega Cen. From this photometry we have obtained differential reddening estimates relative to two other globular clusters…
This paper presents results of a near-infrared imaging survey for low mass stellar and substellar companions to white dwarfs. A wide field proper motion survey of 261 white dwarfs was capable of directly detecting companions at orbital…
White dwarfs are one of the few types of stellar objects for which we know almost nothing about the possible existence of companion planets. Recent evidence for metal contaminated atmospheres, circumstellar debris disks and transiting…
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) has created a knowledge gap between the Northern and the Southern hemispheres which is very marked for white dwarfs: only $\simeq 15$% of the known white dwarfs are south of the equator. Here we make use…
The recent discovery of microlensing of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud has excited much interest in the nature of the lensing population. Detailed analyses indicate that the mass of these objects ranges from 0.3-0.8 solar masses,…
Recent wide-field photometric surveys (Lee et al.; Pancino et al.) have shown the existence of a previously unknown metal-rich ([Fe/H] -0.6) stellar population in the galactic globular cluster omega Centauri. The discovery of this new…
We present medium resolution spectroscopy and multi-epoch VRI photometry for 21 new nearby (< 50 pc) white dwarf systems brighter than V ~ 17. Of the new systems, ten are DA (including a wide double degenerate system with two DA…