2025ApJ...993....8L


Query : 2025ApJ...993....8L

2025ApJ...993....8L - Astrophys. J., 993, 8 (2025/November-1)

Tracing Planetary Accretion in a 3 Gyr old Hydrogen-rich White Dwarf: The Extremely Polluted Atmosphere of LSPM J0207+3331.

LE BOURDAIS E., DUFOUR P., MELIS C., KLEIN B.L., ROGERS L.K., BEDARD A., DEBES J., MESSIER A., WEINBERGER A.J. and XU S.

Abstract (from CDS):

We report the detection of 13 heavy elements (Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, and Sr) in the photosphere of LSPM J0207+3331, a ∼3 Gyr old hydrogen-rich white dwarf with an effective temperature comparable to that of the Sun. Upper limits on carbon, obtained through the absence of molecular CH, suggest accretion from a carbon-volatile-depleted source. The accreted parent body exhibits slight deficits of Mg and Si relative to Fe but otherwise bulk Earth-like abundance patterns; a reasonable interpretation is that LSPM J0207+3331 is accreting a massive differentiated rocky body that had a core mass fraction higher than the Earth's. The high level of pollution indicates that substantial accretion events can still occur even after 3 Gyr of cooling. We also detect weak Ca II H & K line core emission, making this only the second known isolated polluted white dwarf to exhibit this phenomenon and suggesting the presence of additional physical processes in or above the upper atmosphere. Our analysis also highlights the critical importance of including heavy elements in the model atmosphere structure calculations for highly polluted hydrogen-rich white dwarfs. Neglecting their contribution significantly impacts the inferred thermodynamic structure, leading to inaccuracies in derived stellar parameters. Finally, we show that the observed 11.6 μm infrared excess can be explained by a single silicate dust disk rather than a two-ring disk model.

Abstract Copyright: © 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.

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

Simbad objects: 9

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Number of rows : 9
N Identifier Otype ICRS (J2000)
RA
ICRS (J2000)
DEC
Mag U Mag B Mag V Mag R Mag I Sp type #ref
1850 - 2026
#notes
1 LSPM J0207+3331 WD* 02 07 33.8061412464 +33 31 29.541888120   17.9   17.2   DA 17 0
2 EGGR 168 WD* 02 11 20.8420869594 +39 55 21.516404474   14.80 14.50 14.4   DAZ6.9 121 0
3 EGGR 180 WD* 04 31 12.5714396826 +58 58 41.292707803 12.29 12.77   12.8   DC5 140 0
4 LAMOST J064405.25-035206.6 WD* 06 44 05.2305162720 -03 52 06.419555688           DB 21 0
5 LBQS 1145+0145 WD* 11 48 33.6297189672 +01 28 59.420446860           DB 216 0
6 PG 1225-079 WD* 12 27 47.3585913504 -08 14 37.972720428   14.86 14.74 15.15   DZA4 85 0
7 LP 276-33 WD* 16 54 45.6926039157 +38 29 36.628370427   17.1 15.86 16.5   DZA 63 0
8 GD 362 WD* 17 31 34.3168718112 +37 05 20.711767812   16.3   16.4   DAZB 200 0
9 GALEX J193156.8+011745 WD* 19 31 56.9316163968 +01 17 44.107104876     14.20     DAZ 79 1

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