Suchergebnisse

We present observations of a new phenomenon in pulsating white dwarf stars: large-amplitude outbursts at timescales much longer than the pulsation periods. The cool (T-eff = 11,060 K), hydrogen-atmosphere pulsating white dwarf PG 1149+057 was observed nearly continuously for more than 78.8 day by the extended Kepler mission in K2 Campaign 1. The target showed 10 outburst events, recurring roughly every 8 day and lasting roughly 15 hr, with maximum flux excursions up to 45% in the Kepler bandpass. We demonstrate that the outbursts affect the pulsations and therefore must come from the white dwarf. Additionally, we argue that these events are not magnetic reconnection flares, and are most likely connected to the stellar pulsations and the relatively deep surface convection zone. PG 1149+057 is now the second cool pulsating white dwarf to show this outburst phenomenon, after the first variable white dwarf observed in the Kepler mission, KIC 4552982. Both stars have the same effective temperature, within the uncertainties, and are among the coolest known pulsating white dwarfs of typical mass. These outbursts provide fresh observational insight into the red edge of the DAV instability strip and the eventual cessation of pulsations in cool white dwarfs. ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP) / ERC Grant 320964 ; NSF AST-1312983 ; NASA NNX12AC96G ; NASA Science Mission Directorate ; Astronomy

We carry out high-speed photometry on 20 of the shortest-period, detached white dwarf binaries known and discover systems with eclipses, ellipsoidal variations (due to tidal deformations of the visible white dwarf), and Doppler beaming. All of the binaries contain low-mass white dwarfs with orbital periods of less than four hr. Our observations identify the first eight tidally distorted white dwarfs, four of which are reported for the first time here. We use these observations to place empirical constraints on the mass-radius relationship for extremely low-mass (<= 0.30 M-circle dot) white dwarfs. We also detect Doppler beaming in several of these binaries, which confirms their high-amplitude radial-velocity variability. All of these systems are strong sources of gravitational radiation, and long-term monitoring of those that display ellipsoidal variations can be used to detect spin-up of the tidal bulge due to orbital decay. ; NSF AST-0909107, AST-1312678 ; Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program 003658-0252-2009 ; European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme/ERC 320964 ; NASA NNX12AC96G ; Astronomy

We present a spectroscopic survey of 230 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc of the Sun from the William Herschel Telescope and Gran Telescopio Canarias. All candidates were selected from Gaia Data Release 2 (DR2) and in almost all cases, had no prior spectroscopic classifications. We find a total of 191 confirmed white dwarfs and 39 main-sequence star contaminants. The majority of stellar remnants in the sample are relatively cool (Teff = 6200 K), showing either hydrogen Balmer lines or a featureless spectrum, corresponding to 89 DA and 76 DC white dwarfs, respectively. We also recover two DBA white dwarfs and 9–10 magnetic remnants. We find two carbon-bearing DQ stars and 14 new metal-rich white dwarfs ; The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme no. 677706 (WD3D). This article is based on observations made in the Observatorios de Canarias del IAC with the WHT operated on the island of La Palma by the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes in the Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos. Based on observations made with the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), installed at the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrof´ısica de Canarias, in the island of La Palma. This work presents results from the European Space Agency (ESA) space mission Gaia. Gaia data are being processed by the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC). Funding for the DPAC is provided by national institutions, in particular the institutions participating in the Gaia MultiLateral Agreement (MLA). BTG was supported by the UK STFC grants ST/P000495 and ST/T000406/1. ARM acknowledges support from the MINECO under the Ramon y Cajal ´ programme (RYC-2016-20254), the AYA2017-86274-P grant, and the AGAUR grant SGR-661/2017. MRS thanks for support from Fondecyt (grant 1181404). DdM acknowledges financial support from 0:funding-source 3:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100 003981"ASI/0:funding-source-INAF I/037/12/0 and ASI-INAF no. 2017-14-H.0 and from INAF "INAF main streams", Presidential Decree 43/2018. RR has received funding from the postdoctoral fellowship programme Beatriu de Pinos, funded by the Secretary ´ of Universities and Research (Government of Catalonia) and by the Horizon 2020 programme of research and innovation of the European Union under the Maria Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement no. 801370. ; Postprint (published version)

We present a preliminary analysis of the cool pulsating white dwarf (WD) GD 1212, enabled by more than 11.5 days of space-based photometry obtained during an engineering test of the two-reaction-wheel-controlled Kepler spacecraft. We detect at least 19 independent pulsation modes, ranging from 828.2-1220.8 s, and at least 17 nonlinear combination frequencies of those independent pulsations. Our longest uninterrupted light curve, 9.0 days in length, evidences coherent difference frequencies at periods inaccessible from the ground, up to 14.5 hr, the longest-period signals ever detected in a pulsating WD. These results mark some of the first science to come from a two-wheel-controlled Kepler spacecraft, proving the capability for unprecedented discoveries afforded by extending Kepler observations to the ecliptic. ; European Research Council under the European Union 320964 ; NSF AST-0909107, AST-1312678 ; Norman Hackerman Advanced Research Program 003658-0252-2009 ; NASA NNX12AC96G, NNX13AC23G, NNX14AB92G ; Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM), Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) ; McDonald Observatory