2012ApJ...745...88X -
Astrophys. J., 745, 88 (2012/January-3)
Spitzer observations of white dwarfs: the missing planetary debris around DZ stars.
XU S. and JURA M.
Abstract (from CDS):
We report a Spitzer/Infrared Array Camera search for infrared excesses around white dwarfs, including 14 newly observed targets and 16 unpublished archived stars. We find a substantial infrared excess around two warm white dwarfs–J220934.84+122336.5 and WD 0843+516, the latter apparently being the hottest white dwarf known to display a close-in dust disk. Extending previous studies, we find that the fraction of white dwarfs with dust disks increases as the star's temperature increases; for stars cooler than 10,000 K, even the most heavily polluted ones do not have ∼1000 K dust. There is tentative evidence that the dust disk occurrence is correlated with the volatility of the accreted material. In the Appendix, we modify a previous analysis to clarify how Poynting-Robertson drag might play an important role in transferring materials from a dust disk into a white dwarf's atmosphere.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
circumstellar matter - minor planets, asteroids: general - white dwarfs
Simbad objects:
54
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