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2022ApJ...941..113J - Astrophys. J., 941, 113 (2022/December-3)

Unusual Abundances from Planetary System Material Polluting the White Dwarf G238-44.

JOHNSON T.M., KLEIN B.L., KOESTER D., MELIS C., ZUCKERMAN B. and JURA M.

Abstract (from CDS):

Ultraviolet and optical spectra of the hydrogen-dominated atmosphere white dwarf star G238-44 obtained with FUSE, Keck/HIRES, HST/COS, and HST/STIS reveal 10 elements heavier than helium: C, N, O, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Ca, and Fe. G238-44 is only the third white dwarf with nitrogen detected in its atmosphere from polluting planetary system material. Keck/HIRES data taken on 11 nights over 24 yr show no evidence for variation in the equivalent width of measured absorption lines, suggesting stable and continuous accretion from a circumstellar reservoir. From measured abundances and limits on other elements, we find an anomalous abundance pattern and evidence for the presence of metallic iron. If the pollution is from a single parent body, then it would have no known counterpart within the solar system. If we allow for two distinct parent bodies, then we can reproduce the observed abundances with a mix of iron-rich Mercury-like material and an analog of an icy Kuiper Belt object with a respective mass ratio of 1.7:1. Such compositionally disparate objects would provide chemical evidence for both rocky and icy bodies in an exoplanetary system and would be indicative of a planetary system so strongly perturbed that G238-44 is able to capture both asteroid and Kuiper Belt-analog bodies near-simultaneously within its <100 Myr cooling age.

Abstract Copyright: © 2022. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

Journal keyword(s): Exoplanet systems - Stellar abundances - White dwarf stars - Planetary dynamics

Simbad objects: 4

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