arXiv subjects

A. J. Weinberger

Publications and source records attributed to A. J. Weinberger.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2024

The 40 pc sample of white dwarfs from Gaia

We present a comprehensive overview of a volume-complete sample of white dwarfs located within 40 pc of the Sun, a significant proportion of which were detected in Gaia Data Release 3 (DR3). Our DR3 sample contains 1076 spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs, with just five candidates within the volume remaining unconfirmed (more than 99 per cent spectroscopic completeness). Additionally, 28 white dwarfs were not in our initial selection from Gaia DR3, most of which are in unresolved binaries. We use Gaia DR3 photometry and astrometry to determine a uniform set of white dwarf parameters, including mass, effective temperature, and cooling age. We assess the demographics of the 40 pc sample, specifically magnetic fields, binarity, space density and mass distributions.

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arXiv2023

Seven white dwarfs with circumstellar gas discs I: white dwarf parameters and accreted planetary abundances

Observations of planetary material polluting the atmospheres of white dwarfs are an important probe of the bulk composition of exoplanetary material. Medium- and high-resolution optical and ultraviolet spectroscopy of seven white dwarfs with known circumstellar dust and gas emission are presented. Detections or meaningful upper limits for photospheric absorption lines are measured for: C, O, Na, S, P, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Ti, Cr, Fe, and Ni. For 16 white dwarfs with known observable gaseous emission discs (and measured photospheric abundances), there is no evidence that their accretion rates differ, on average, from those without detectable gaseous emission. This suggests that, typically, accretion is not enhanced by gas drag. At the effective temperature range of the white dwarfs in this sample (16,000-25,000K) the abundance ratios of elements are more consistent than absolute abundances when comparing abundances derived from spectroscopic white dwarf parameters versus photometric white dwarf parameters. Crucially, this highlights that the uncertainties on white dwarf parameters do not prevent white dwarfs from being utilised to study planetary composition. The abundances of oxygen and silicon for the three hydrogen-dominated white dwarfs in the sample with both optical and ultraviolet spectra differ by 0.62 dex depending on if they are derived from the optical or ultraviolet spectra. This optical/ultraviolet discrepancy may be related to differences in the atmospheric depth of line formation; further investigations into the white dwarf atmospheric modelling are needed to understand this discrepancy.

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arXiv2023

The surprising evolution of the shadow on the TW Hya disk

We report new total intensity visible light high contrast imaging of the TW Hya disk taken with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). This represents the first published images of the disk with STIS since 2016, when a moving shadow on the disk surface was reported. We continue to see the shadow moving in a counter-clockwise fashion, but in these new images the shadow has evolved into two separate shadows, implying a change in behavior for the occulting structure. Based on radiative transfer models of optically thick disk structures casting shadows, we infer that a plausible explanation for the change is that there are now two misaligned components of the inner disk. The first of these disks is located between 5-6au with an inclination of 5.5\arcdeg and PA of 170\arcdeg, the second between 6-7au with and inclination of 7\arcdeg and PA of 50\arcdeg. Finally, we speculate on the implications of the new shadow structure and determine that additional observations are needed to disentangle the nature of TW Hya's inner disk architecture.

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arXiv2022

$\textit{Gaia}$ white dwarfs within 40 pc III: spectroscopic observations of new candidates in the southern hemisphere

We present a spectroscopic survey of 248 white dwarf candidates within 40 pc of the Sun; of these 244 are in the southern hemisphere. Observations were performed mostly with the Very Large Telescope (X-Shooter) and Southern Astrophysical Research Telescope. Almost all candidates were selected from $\textit{Gaia}$ Data Release 3 (DR3). We find a total of 246 confirmed white dwarfs, 209 of which had no previously published spectra, and two main-sequence star contaminants. Of these, 100 white dwarfs display hydrogen Balmer lines, 69 have featureless spectra, and two show only neutral helium lines. Additionally, 14 white dwarfs display traces of carbon, while 37 have traces of other elements that are heavier than helium. We observe 36 magnetic white dwarfs through the detection of Zeeman splitting of their hydrogen Balmer or metal spectral lines. High spectroscopic completeness (> 97 per cent) has now been reached, such that we have 1058 confirmed $\textit{Gaia}$ DR3 white dwarfs out of 1083 candidates within 40 pc of the Sun at all declinations.

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arXiv2022

Detection of Near-Infrared Water Ice at the Surface of the (pre)Transitional Disk of AB Aur: Informing Icy Grain Abundance, Composition, and Size

We present near-infrared Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer LMIRCam imagery of the disk around the Herbig Ae/Be star AB Aurigae. A comparison of surface brightness at Ks (2.16 $μ$m), H2O narrowband (3.08 $μ$m), and L' (3.7 $μ$m) allows us to probe the presence of icy grains in this (pre)transitional disk environment. By applying Reference Differential Imaging PSF subtraction, we detect the disk at high signal to noise in all three bands. We find strong morphological differences between bands, including asymmetries consistent with observed spiral arms within 100 AU in L'. An apparent deficit of scattered light at 3.08 $μ$m relative to bracketing wavelengths (Ks and L') is evocative of ice absorption at the disk surface layer. However, the $Δ$(Ks-H2O) color is consistent with grains with little to no ice (0-5% by mass). The $Δ$(H2O-L') color, conversely, suggests grains with a much higher ice mass fraction (~0.68), and the two colors cannot be reconciled under a single grain population model. Additionally, we find the extremely red $Δ$(Ks-L') disk color cannot be reproduced under conventional scattered light modeling with any combination of grain parameters or reasonable local extinction values. We hypothesize that the scattering surfaces at the three wavelengths are not co-located, and optical depth effects result in each wavelength probing the grain population at different disk surface depths. The morphological similarity between Ks and H2O suggests their scattering surfaces are near one another, lending credence to the $Δ$(Ks-H2O) disk color constraint of < 5% ice mass fraction for the outermost scattering disk layer.

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arXiv2021

The HOSTS survey: evidence for an extended dust disk and constraints on the presence of giant planets in the Habitable Zone of $β$ Leo

The young (50-400 Myr) A3V star $β$ Leo is a primary target to study the formation history and evolution of extrasolar planetary systems as one of the few stars with known hot ($\sim$1600$^\circ$K), warm ($\sim$600$^\circ$K), and cold ($\sim$120$^\circ$K) dust belt components. In this paper, we present deep mid-infrared measurements of the warm dust brightness obtained with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) as part of its exozodiacal dust survey (HOSTS). The measured excess is 0.47\%$\pm$0.050\% within the central 1.5 au, rising to 0.81\%$\pm$0.026\% within 4.5 au, outside the habitable zone of $β$~Leo. This dust level is 50 $\pm$ 10 times greater than in the solar system's zodiacal cloud. Poynting-Robertson drag on the cold dust detected by Spitzer and Herschel under-predicts the dust present in the habitable zone of $β$~Leo, suggesting an additional delivery mechanism (e.g.,~comets) or an additional belt at $\sim$5.5 au. A model of these dust components is provided which implies the absence of planets more than a few Saturn masses between $\sim$5 au and the outer belt at $\sim$40 au. We also observationally constrain giant planets with the LBTI imaging channel at 3.8~$μ$m wavelength. Assuming an age of 50 Myr, any planet in the system between approximately 5 au to 50 au must be less than a few Jupiter masses, consistent with our dust model. Taken together, these observations showcase the deep contrasts and detection capabilities attainable by the LBTI for both warm exozodiacal dust and giant exoplanets in or near the habitable zone of nearby stars.

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arXiv2020

Serendipitous Discovery of Nine White Dwarfs With Gaseous Debris Disks

Optical spectroscopic observations of white dwarf stars selected from catalogs based on the Gaia DR2 database reveal nine new gaseous debris disks that orbit single white dwarf stars, about a factor of two increase over the previously known sample. For each source we present gas emission lines identified and basic stellar parameters, including abundances for lines seen with low-resolution spectroscopy. Principle discoveries include: (1) the coolest white dwarf (Teff~12,720 K) with a gas disk; this star, WD0145+234, has been reported to have undergone a recent infrared outburst; (2) co-location in velocity space of gaseous emission from multiple elements, suggesting that different elements are well-mixed; (3) highly asymmetric emission structures toward SDSSJ0006+2858, and possibly asymmetric structures for two other systems; (4) an overall sample composed of approximately 25% DB and 75% DA white dwarfs, consistent with the overall distribution of primary atmospheric types found in the field population; and (5) never-before-seen emission lines from Na in the spectra of GaiaJ0611-6931, semi-forbidden Mg, Ca, and Fe lines toward WD0842+572, and Si in both stars. The currently known sample of gaseous debris disk systems is significantly skewed towards northern hemisphere stars, suggesting a dozen or so emission line stars are waiting to be found in the southern hemisphere.

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arXiv2018

The HOSTS Survey for Exozodiacal Dust: Preliminary results and future prospects

[abridged] The presence of large amounts of dust in the habitable zones of nearby stars is a significant obstacle for future exo-Earth imaging missions. We executed an N band nulling interferometric survey to determine the typical amount of such exozodiacal dust around a sample of nearby main sequence stars. The majority of our data have been analyzed and we present here an update of our ongoing work. We find seven new N band excesses in addition to the high confidence confirmation of three that were previously known. We find the first detections around Sun-like stars and around stars without previously known circumstellar dust. Our overall detection rate is 23%. The inferred occurrence rate is comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decreases from 71% [+11%/-20%] for stars with previously detected mid- to far-infrared excess to 11% [+9%/-4%] for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at high confidence. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal luminosity function of the dust, we find upper limits on the median dust level around all stars without previously known mid to far infrared excess of 11.5 zodis at 95% confidence level. The corresponding upper limit for Sun-like stars is 16 zodis. An LBTI vetted target list of Sun-like stars for exo-Earth imaging would have a corresponding limit of 7.5 zodis. We provide important new insights into the occurrence rate and typical levels of habitable zone dust around main sequence stars. Exploiting the full range of capabilities of the LBTI provides a critical opportunity for the detailed characterization of a sample of exozodiacal dust disks to understand the origin, distribution, and properties of the dust.

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arXiv2018

The HOSTS survey - Exozodiacal dust measurements for 30 stars

The HOSTS (Hunt for Observable Signatures of Terrestrial Systems) survey searches for dust near the habitable zones (HZs) around nearby, bright main sequence stars. We use nulling interferometry in N band to suppress the bright stellar light and to probe for low levels of HZ dust around the 30 stars observed so far. Our overall detection rate is 18%, including four new detections, among which are the first three around Sun-like stars and the first two around stars without any previously known circumstellar dust. The inferred occurrence rates are comparable for early type and Sun-like stars, but decrease from 60 (+16/-21)% for stars with previously detected cold dust to 8 (+10/-3)% for stars without such excess, confirming earlier results at higher sensitivity. For completed observations on individual stars, our sensitivity is five to ten times better than previous results. Assuming a lognormal excess luminosity function, we put upper limits on the median HZ dust level of 13 zodis (95% confidence) for a sample of stars without cold dust and of 26 zodis when focussing on Sun-like stars without cold dust. However, our data suggest that a more complex luminosity function may be more appropriate. For stars without detectable LBTI excess, our upper limits are almost reduced by a factor of two, demonstrating the strength of LBTI target vetting for future exo-Earth imaging missions. Our statistics are so far limited and extending the survey is critical to inform the design of future exo-Earth imaging surveys.

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arXiv2016

Trigonometric Parallaxes and Proper Motions of 134 Southern Late M, L, and T Dwarfs from the Carnegie Astrometric Planet Search Program

We report trigonometric parallaxes for 134 low mass stars and brown dwarfs, of which 38 have no previously published measurement and 79 more have improved uncertainties. Our survey targeted nearby targets, so 119 are closer than 30 pc. Of the 38 stars with new parallaxes, 14 are within 20 pc and seven are likely brown dwarfs (spectral types later than L0). These parallaxes are useful for studies of kinematics, multiplicity, and spectrophotometric calibration. Two objects with new parallaxes are confirmed as young stars with membership in nearby young moving groups: LP 870-65 in AB Doradus and G 161-71 in Argus. We also report the first parallax for the planet-hosting star GJ 3470; this allows us to refine the density of its Neptune-mass planet. One T-dwarf, 2MASS J12590470-4336243, previously thought to lie within 4 pc, is found to be at 7.8 pc, and the M-type star 2MASS J01392170-3936088 joins the ranks of nearby stars as it is found to be within 10 pc. Five stars that are over-luminous and/or too red for their spectral types are identified and deserve further study as possible young stars.

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arXiv2016

Nulling Data Reduction and On-Sky Performance of the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer

The Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI) is a versatile instrument designed for high-angular resolution and high-contrast infrared imaging (1.5-13 microns). In this paper, we focus on the mid-infrared (8-13 microns) nulling mode and present its theory of operation, data reduction, and on-sky performance as of the end of the commissioning phase in March 2015. With an interferometric baseline of 14.4 meters, the LBTI nuller is specifically tuned to resolve the habitable zone of nearby main-sequence stars, where warm exozodiacal dust emission peaks. Measuring the exozodi luminosity function of nearby main-sequence stars is a key milestone to prepare for future exoEarth direct imaging instruments. Thanks to recent progress in wavefront control and phase stabilization, as well as in data reduction techniques, the LBTI demonstrated in February 2015 a calibrated null accuracy of 0.05% over a three-hour long observing sequence on the bright nearby A3V star beta Leo. This is equivalent to an exozodiacal disk density of 15 to 30 zodi for a Sun-like star located at 10pc, depending on the adopted disk model. This result sets a new record for high-contrast mid-infrared interferometric imaging and opens a new window on the study of planetary systems.

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arXiv2015

Accreting Protoplanets in the LkCa 15 Transition Disk

Exoplanet detections have revolutionized astronomy, offering new insights into solar system architecture and planet demographics. While nearly 1900 exoplanets have now been discovered and confirmed, none are still in the process of formation. Transition discs, protoplanetary disks with inner clearings best explained by the influence of accreting planets, are natural laboratories for the study of planet formation. Some transition discs show evidence for the presence of young planets in the form of disc asymmetries or infrared sources detected within their clearings, as in the case of LkCa 15. Attempts to observe directly signatures of accretion onto protoplanets have hitherto proven unsuccessful. Here we report adaptive optics observations of LkCa 15 that probe within the disc clearing. With accurate source positions over multiple epochs spanning 2009 - 2015, we infer the presence of multiple companions on Keplerian orbits. We directly detect Hα emission from the innermost companion, LkCa 15 b, evincing hot (~10,000 K) gas falling deep into the potential well of an accreting protoplanet.

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arXiv2015

First-light LBT nulling interferometric observations: warm exozodiacal dust resolved within a few AU of eta Corvi

We report on the first nulling interferometric observations with the Large Binocular Telescope Interferometer (LBTI), resolving the N' band (9.81 - 12.41 um) emission around the nearby main-sequence star eta Crv (F2V, 1-2 Gyr). The measured source null depth amounts to 4.40% +/- 0.35% over a field-of-view of 140 mas in radius (~2.6\,AU at the distance of eta Corvi) and shows no significant variation over 35° of sky rotation. This relatively low null is unexpected given the total disk to star flux ratio measured by Spitzer/IRS (~23% across the N' band), suggesting that a significant fraction of the dust lies within the central nulled response of the LBTI (79 mas or 1.4 AU). Modeling of the warm disk shows that it cannot resemble a scaled version of the Solar zodiacal cloud, unless it is almost perpendicular to the outer disk imaged by Herschel. It is more likely that the inner and outer disks are coplanar and the warm dust is located at a distance of 0.5-1.0 AU, significantly closer than previously predicted by models of the IRS spectrum (~3 AU). The predicted disk sizes can be reconciled if the warm disk is not centrosymmetric, or if the dust particles are dominated by very small grains. Both possibilities hint that a recent collision has produced much of the dust. Finally, we discuss the implications for the presence of dust at the distance where the insolation is the same as Earth's (2.3 AU).

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arXiv2014

Discovery of H-alpha Emission from the Close Companion Inside the Gap of Transitional Disk HD142527

We utilized the new high-order 585 actuator Magellan Adaptive Optics system (MagAO) to obtain very high-resolution visible light images of HD142527 with MagAO's VisAO science camera. In the median seeing conditions of the 6.5m Magellan telescope (0.5-0.7"), we find MagAO delivers 24-19% Strehl at H-alpha (0.656 microns). We detect a faint companion (HD142527B) embedded in this young transitional disk system at just 86.3+/-1.9 mas (~12 AU) from the star. The companion is detected in both H-alpha and a continuum filter (Delta_mag=6.33+/-0.20 mag at H-alpha and 7.50+/-0.25 mag in the continuum filter). This provides confirmation of the tentative companion discovered by Biller and co-workers with sparse aperture masking at the 8m VLT. The H-alpha emission from the ~0.25 solar mass companion (EW=180 Angstroms) implies a mass accretion rate of ~5.9x10^-10 Msun/yr, and a total accretion luminosity of 1.2% Lsun. Assuming a similar accretion rate, we estimate that a 1 Jupiter mass gas giant could have considerably better (50-1,000x) planet/star contrasts at H-alpha than at H band (COND models) for a range of optical extinctions (3.4-0 mag). We suggest that ~0.5-5 Mjup extrasolar planets in their gas accretion phase could be much more luminous at H-alpha than in the NIR. This is the motivation for our new MagAO GAPplanetS survey for extrasolar planets.

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arXiv2013

The 0.5-2.22-micron Scattered Light Spectrum of the Disk Around TW Hya: Detection of a Partially Filled Disk Gap at 80 AU

We present a 0.5-2.2 micron scattered light spectrum of the circumstellar disk around TW Hya from a combination of spatially resolved HST STIS spectroscopy and NICMOS coronagraphic images of the disk. We investigate the morphology of the disk at distances > 40 AU over this wide range of wavelengths, and identify the presence of a depression in surface brightness at ~80 AU that could be caused by a gap in the disk. Additionally, we quantify the surface brightness, azimuthal symmetry, and spectral character of the disk as a function of radius. Our analysis shows that the scattering efficiency of the dust is largely neutral to blue over the observed wavelengths. We model the disk as a steady alpha-disk with an ad hoc gap structure. The thermal properties of the disk are self-consistently calculated using a three-dimensional radiative transfer code that uses ray-tracing to model the heating of the disk interior and scattered light images. We find a good fit to the data over a wide range of distances from the star if we use a model disk with a partially filled gap of 30% depth at 80 AU and with a self-similar truncation knee at 100 AU. The origin of the gap is unclear, but it could arise from a transition in the nature of the disk's dust composition or the presence of a planetary companion. Based on scalings to previous hydrodynamic simulations of gap opening criteria for embedded proto-planets, we estimate that a planetary companion forming the gap could have a mass between 6-28 M_Earth.

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arXiv2012

Detection of Weak Circumstellar Gas around the DAZ White Dwarf WD 1124-293: Evidence for the Accretion of Multiple Asteroids

Single metal polluted white dwarfs with no dusty disks are believed to be actively accreting metals from a circumstellar disk of gas caused by the destruction of asteroids perturbed by planetary systems. We report, for the first time, the detection of circumstellar Ca~II gas in absorption around the DAZ WD~1124-293, which lacks an infrared excess. We constrain the gas to $>$7 $R_{\rm WD}$ and $<$32000~AU, and estimate it to be at $\sim$54~R$_{\rm WD}$, well within WD~1124-293's tidal disruption radius. This detection is based on several epochs of spectroscopy around the Ca~II H and K lines ($λ$=3968Å, 3933Å) with the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan/Clay Telescope at Las Campanas Observatory. We confirm the circumstellar nature of the gas by observing nearby sightlines and finding no evidence for gas from the local interstellar medium. Through archival data we have measured the equivalent width of the two photospheric Ca lines over a period of 11 years. We see $<$ 5-7\% epoch-to-epoch variation in equivalent widths over this time period, and no evidence for long term trends. The presence of a circumstellar gas implies a near edge-on inclination to the system, thus we place limits to short period transiting planetary companions with R $>$ R$_{\rm \oplus}$ using the WASP survey. The presence of gas in orbit around WD~1124-293 implies that most DAZs could harbor planetary systems. Since 25-30\% of white dwarfs show metal line absorption, the dynamical process for perturbing small bodies must be robust.

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arXiv2010

The Absence of Cold Dust and the Mineralogy and Origin of the Warm Dust Encircling BD +20 307

Spitzer Space Telescope photometry and spectroscopy of BD +20 307 show that all of the dust around this remarkable Gyr-old spectroscopic binary arises within 1 AU. No additional cold dust is needed to fit the infrared excess. Peaks in the 10 and 20 micron spectrum are well fit with small silicates that should be removed on a timescale of years from the system. This is the dustiest star known for its age, which is >1 Gyr. The dust cannot arise from a steady-state collisional cascade. A catastrophic collision of two rocky, planetary-scale bodies in the terrestrial zone is the most likely source for this warm dust because it does not require a reservoir of planetesimals in the outer system.

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arXiv2009

Interstellar Medium Sculpting of the HD 32297 Disk

We detect the HD 32297 debris disk in scattered light at 1.6 and 2.05 \micron. We use these new observations together with a previous scattered light image of the disk at 1.1 \micron to examine the structure and scattering efficiency of the disk as a function of wavelength. In addition to surface brightness asymmetries and a warped morphology beyond $\sim$1\farcs5 for one lobe of the disk, we find that there exists an asymmetry in the spectral features of the grains between the northeastern and southwestern lobes. The mostly neutral color of the disk lobes imply roughly 1 \micron-sized grains are responsible for the scattering. We find that the asymmetries in color and morphology can plausibly be explained by HD 32297's motion into a dense ISM cloud at a relative velocity of 15 km s$^{-1}$. We model the interaction of dust grains with HI gas in the cloud. We argue that supersonic ballistic drag can explain the morphology of the debris disks of HD 32297, HD 15115, and HD 61005.

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