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arXiv · 1511.05973

Evidence for Gas from a Disintegrating Extrasolar Asteroid

S. Xu·M. Jura·P. Dufour·B. Zuckerman
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Abstract

We report high-resolution spectroscopic observations of WD 1145+017 -- a white dwarf that recently has been found to be transitted by multiple asteroid-sized objects within its tidal radius. We have discovered numerous circumstellar absorption lines with linewidths of $\sim$ 300 km s$^{-1}$ from Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni, possibly from several gas streams produced by collisions among the actively disintegrating objects. The atmosphere of WD 1145+017 is polluted with 11 heavy elements, including O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, V:, Cr, Mn, Fe and Ni. Evidently, we are witnessing the active disintegration and subsequent accretion of an extrasolar asteroid.

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S. Xu, M. Jura, P. Dufour, B. Zuckerman. 2015-11-18. Evidence for Gas from a Disintegrating Extrasolar Asteroid. https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8205%2F816%2F2%2Fl22

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