arXiv subjects

J. Farihi

Publications and source records attributed to J. Farihi.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Evidence for Water in the Rocky Debris of a Disrupted Extrasolar Minor Planet

The existence of water in extrasolar planetary systems is of great interest as it constrains the potential for habitable planets and life. Here, we report the identification of a circumstellar disk that resulted from the destruction of a water-rich and rocky, extrasolar minor planet. The parent body formed and evolved around a star somewhat more massive than the Sun, and the debris now closely orbits the white dwarf remnant of the star. The stellar atmosphere is polluted with metals accreted from the disk, including oxygen in excess of that expected for oxide minerals, indicating the parent body was originally composed of 26% water by mass. This finding demonstrates that water-bearing planetesimals exist around A- and F-type stars that end their lives as white dwarfs.

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arXiv2013

Evidence of Rocky Planetesimals Orbiting Two Hyades Stars

The Hyades is the nearest open cluster, relatively young and containing numerous A-type stars; its known age, distance, and metallicity make it an ideal site to study planetary systems around 2-3 Msun stars at an epoch similar to the late heavy bombardment. Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet spectroscopy strongly suggests ongoing, external metal pollution in two remnant Hyads. For ongoing accretion in both stars, the polluting material has log[n(Si)/n(C)] > 0.2, is more carbon deficient than chondritic meteorites, and is thus rocky. These data are consistent with a picture where rocky planetesimals and small planets have formed in the Hyades around two main-sequence A-type stars, whose white dwarf descendants bear the scars. These detections via metal pollution are shown to be equivalent to infrared excesses of Lir/L* ~ 1e-6 in the terrestrial zone of the stars.

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arXiv2013

Orbital and Evolutionary Constraints on the Planet Hosting Binary GJ 86 from the Hubble Space Telescope

This paper presents new observations of the planet-hosting, visual binary GJ 86 (HR 637) using the Hubble Space Telescope. Ultraviolet and optical imaging with WFC3 confirms the stellar companion is a degenerate star and indicates the binary semimajor axis is larger than previous estimates, with a > 28 AU. Optical STIS spectroscopy of the secondary reveals a helium-rich white dwarf with C2 absorption bands and Teff = 8180 K, thus making the binary system rather similar to Procyon. Based on the 10.8 pc distance, the companion has 0.59 Msun and descended from a main-sequence A star of 1.9 Msun with an original orbital separation a > 14 AU. If the giant planet is coplanar with the binary, the mass of GJ 86Ab is between 4.4 and 4.7 MJup. The similarity of GJ 86 and Procyon prompted a re-analysis of the white dwarf in the latter system, with the tentative conclusion that Procyon hosts a planetesimal population. The periastron distance in Procyon is 20% smaller than in alpha Cen AB, but the metal-enriched atmosphere of Procyon B indicates that the planet formation process minimally attained 25 km bodies, if not small planets as in alpha Cen.

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arXiv2012

Circumstellar Disks at White Dwarfs: Observations

The current picture painted by the observations of circumstellar dust at white dwarfs, and the consequent atmospheric pollution, is of a surviving planetary system. This chapter recounts in detail both the discovery and empirical characterization of dust disks at single white dwarfs, including all observational data available up to early 2011. Observations of the disks themselves and the accreted heavy elements within the stellar photospheres are consistent with tidally disrupted asteroid analogs. The observed chemistry supports objects that condensed within the inner regions of main-sequence stars and thus far appear similar in constitution to the terrestrial planets and their building blocks.

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arXiv2012

Scars of Intense Accretion Episodes at Metal-Rich White Dwarfs

A re-evaluation of time-averaged accretion rates at DBZ-type white dwarfs points to historical, time-averaged rates significantly higher than the currently observed episodes at their DAZ counterparts. The difference between the ongoing, instantaneous accretion rates witnessed at DAZ white dwarfs, which often exceed 1e8 g/s, and those inferred over the past 1e5-1e6 yr for the DBZ stars can be a few orders of magnitude, and therefore must result from high-rate episodes of tens to hundreds of years so they remain undetected to date. This paper explores the likelihood that such brief, intense accretion episodes of gas-phase material can account for existing data. For reasonable assumptions about the circumstellar gas, accretion rates approaching or exceeding 1e15 g/s are possible, similar to rates observed in quiescent cataclysmic variables, and potentially detectable with future x-ray missions or wide-field monitoring facilities. Gaseous debris that is prone to such rapid accretion may be abundant immediately following a tidal disruption event via collisions and sublimation, or if additional bodies impinge upon an extant disk. Particulate disk matter accretes at or near the Poynting-Robertson drag rate for long periods between gas-producing events, consistent with rates inferred for dusty DAZ white dwarfs. In this picture, warm DAZ stars without infrared excesses have rates consistent with accretion from particulate disks that remain undetected. This overall picture has implications for quasi-steady state models of accretion and the derived chemical composition of asteroidal debris in DBZ white dwarfs.

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arXiv2012

Precision Astrometry of the Exoplanet Host Candidate GD 66

The potential existence of a giant planet orbiting within a few AU of a stellar remnant has profound implications for both the survival and possible regeneration of planets during post-main sequence stellar evolution. This paper reports Hubble Space Telescope Fine Guidance Sensor and U.S. Naval Observatory relative astrometry of GD 66, a white dwarf thought to harbor a giant planet between 2 and 3 AU based on stellar pulsation arrival times. Combined with existing infrared data, the precision measurements here rule out all stellar-mass and brown dwarf companions, implying that only a planet remains plausible, if orbital motion is indeed the cause of the variations in pulsation timing.

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arXiv2012

The origin of circumstellar features in the spectra of hot DA white dwarfs

We have analysed a sample of 23 hot DAs to better understand the source of the circumstellar features reported in previous work. Unambiguous detections of circumstellar material are again made at eight stars. The velocities of the circumstellar material at three of the white dwarfs are coincident with the radial velocities of ISM along the sight line to the stars, suggesting that the objects may be ionising the ISM in their locality. In three further cases, the circumstellar velocities are close to the ISM velocities, indicating that these objects are either ionising the ISM, or evaporated planetesimals/material in a circumstellar disc. The circumstellar velocity at WD 1614-084 lies far from the ISM velocities, indicating either the ionisation of an undetected ISM component or circumstellar material. The material seen at WD 0232+035 can be attributed to the photoionisation of material lost from its M dwarf companion. The measured column densities of the circumstellar material lie within the ionised ISM column density ranges predicted to exist in hot DA Stromgren spheres.

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arXiv2012

Gaseous Material Orbiting the Polluted, Dusty White Dwarf HE1349-2305

We present new spectroscopic observations of the polluted, dusty, helium-dominated atmosphere white dwarf star HE1349-2305. Optical spectroscopy reveals weak CaII infrared triplet emission indicating that metallic gas debris orbits and is accreted by the white dwarf. Atmospheric abundances are measured for magnesium and silicon while upper limits for iron and oxygen are derived from the available optical spectroscopy. HE1349-2305 is the first gas disk-hosting white dwarf star identified amongst previously known polluted white dwarfs. Further characterization of the parent body polluting this star will require ultraviolet spectroscopy.

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arXiv2012

Constraints on the Lifetimes of Disks Resulting from Tidally Destroyed Rocky Planetary Bodies

Spitzer IRAC observations of 15 metal-polluted white dwarfs reveal infrared excesses in the spectral energy distributions of HE 0110-5630, GD 61, and HE 1349-2305. All three of these stars have helium-dominated atmospheres, and their infrared emissions are consistent with warm dust produced by the tidal destruction of (minor) planetary bodies. This study brings the number of metal-polluted, helium and hydrogen atmosphere white dwarfs surveyed with IRAC to 53 and 38 respectively. It also nearly doubles the number of metal-polluted helium-rich white dwarfs found to have closely orbiting dust by Spitzer. From the increased statistics for both atmospheric types with circumstellar dust, we derive a typical disk lifetime of log[t_{disk} (yr)] = 5.6+-1.1 (ranging from 3*10^4 - 5*10^6 yr). This assumes a relatively constant rate of accretion over the timescale where dust persists, which is uncertain. We find that the fraction of highly metal-polluted helium-rich white dwarfs that have an infrared excess detected by Spitzer is only 23 per cent, compared to 48 per cent for metal-polluted hydrogen-rich white dwarfs, and we conclude from this difference that the typical lifetime of dusty disks is somewhat shorter than the diffusion time scales of helium-rich white dwarf. We also find evidence for higher time-averaged accretion rates onto helium-rich stars compared to the instantaneous accretion rates onto hydrogen-rich stars; this is an indication that our picture of evolved star-planetary system interactions is incomplete. We discuss some speculative scenarios that can explain the observations.

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arXiv2011

A Trio of Metal-Rich Dust and Gas Disks Found Orbiting Candidate White Dwarfs with K-Band Excess

This paper reports follow-up photometric and spectroscopic observations, including warm Spitzer IRAC photometry of seven white dwarfs from the SDSS with apparent excess flux in UKIDSS K-band observations. Six of the science targets were selected from 16,785 DA star candidates identified either spectroscopically or photometrically within SDSS DR7, spatially cross-correlated with HK detections in UKIDSS DR8. Thus the selection criteria are completely independent of stellar mass, effective temperature above 8000 K, and the presence (or absence) of atmospheric metals. The infrared fluxes of one target are compatible with a spatially-unresolved late M or early L-type companion, while three stars exhibit excess emissions consistent with warm circumstellar dust. These latter targets have spectral energy distributions similar to known dusty white dwarfs with high fractional infrared luminosities (thus the K-band excesses). Optical spectroscopy reveals the stars with disk-like excesses are polluted with heavy elements, denoting the ongoing accretion of circumstellar material. One of the disks exhibits a gaseous component - the fourth reported to date - and orbits a relatively cool star, indicating the gas is produced via collisions as opposed to sublimation, supporting the picture of a recent event. The resulting statistics yield a lower limit of 0.8% for the fraction dust disks at DA-type white dwarfs with cooling ages less than 1 Gyr. Two overall results are noteworthy: all stars whose excess infrared emission is consistent with dust are metal-rich; and no stars warmer than 25,000 K are found to have this type of excess, despite sufficient sensitivity.

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arXiv2011

Evolutionary Constraints on the Planet-Hosting Subgiant Epsilon Reticulum from its White Dwarf Companion

The planet-hosting and Sirius-type binary system epsilon Reticulum (HD 27442) is examined from the perspective of its more evolved white dwarf secondary. The stellar parameters are determined from a combination of Balmer line spectroscopy, gravitational redshift, and solid angle. These three methods conspire to yield the most accurate physical description of the companion to date: Teff=15,310 \pm 350 K and M=0.60 \pm 0.02 Msol. Post-main sequence mass loss indicates the current binary separation has increased by a factor of 1.6 from its primordial state when the current primary was forming its planet(s), implying a0 > 150 AU and constraining stable planets to within 15-20 AU for a binary eccentricity of e=0.5. Almost 80 years have passed since the first detection of the stellar companion, and marginal orbital motion may be apparent in the binary, suggesting a near edge-on configuration with i > 70 deg, albeit with substantial uncertainty. If correct, and all known bodies are coplanar, the mass of the planet HD 27442b is bound between 1.66 and 1.77 Mjup. A search for photospheric metals in the DA white dwarf yields no detections, and hence there is no clear signature of an extant planetary system orbiting the previously more massive secondary. However, if the white dwarf mass derived via spectral fitting is correct, its evolution could have been influenced by interactions with inner planets during the asymptotic giant branch. Based on the frequency of giant planets and circumstellar debris as a function of stellar mass, it is unlikely that the primordial primary would be void of planets, given at least one orbiting its less massive sibling.

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arXiv2011

DA white dwarfs in SDSS DR7 and a search for infrared excess emission

We present a method which uses colour-colour cuts on SDSS photometry to select white dwarfs with hydrogen rich (DA) atmospheres without the recourse to spectroscopy. This method results in a sample of DA white dwarfs that is 95% complete at an efficiency of returning a true DA white dwarf of 62%. The approach was applied to SDSS Data Release 7 for objects with and without SDSS spectroscopy. This lead to 4636 spectroscopically confirmed DA white dwarfs with g<=19; a ~70% increase compared to Eisenstein et al.'s 2006 sample. Including the photometric-only objects, we estimate a factor of 3 increase in DA white dwarfs. We find that the SDSS spectroscopic follow-up is 44% complete for DA white dwarfs with effective temperature >~ 8000K. We further cross-correlated the SDSS sample with Data Release 8 of the UKIDSS Large Area Survey. The spectral energy distributions of both subsets, with and without SDSS spectroscopy, were fitted with white dwarf models to determine the fraction of DA white dwarfs with low-mass stellar companions or dusty debris discs via the detection of excess near-infrared emission. From the spectroscopic sample we find that 2.0% of white dwarfs have an excess consistent with a brown dwarf type companion, with a firm lower limit of 0.8%. From the white dwarfs with photometry only, we find that 1.8% are candidates for having brown dwarf companions. Similarly, both samples show that ~1% of white dwarfs are candidates for having a dusty debris disc.

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arXiv2011

An extremely luminous panchromatic outburst from the nucleus of a distant galaxy

Variable X-ray and gamma-ray emission is characteristic of the most extreme physical processes in the Universe, and studying the sources of these energetic photons has been a major driver in astronomy for the past 50 years. Here we present multiwavelength observations of a unique gamma-ray selected transient, discovered by Swift, which was accompanied by bright emission across the electromagnetic spectrum, and whose properties are unlike any previously observed source. We pinpoint the event to the center of a small, star-forming galaxy at redshift z=0.3534. Its high-energy emission has lasted much longer than any gamma-ray burst, while its peak luminosity was about 100 times higher than the brightest active galactic nuclei. The association of the outburst with the center of its host galaxy suggests that this phenomenon has its origin in a new, rare mechanism associated with a massive black hole in the nucleus of a galaxy.

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arXiv2011

Brown Dwarf Companions to White Dwarfs

Brown dwarf companions to white dwarfs are rare, but recent infra-red surveys are slowly reveal- ing examples. We present new observations of the post-common envelope binary WD0137-349, which reveals the effects of irradiation on the ~ 0.05M* secondary, and new observations of GD 1400 which show that it too is a close, post-comon envelope system. We also present the lat- est results in a near-infrared photometric search for unresolved ultracool companions and to white dwarfs with UKIDSS. Twenty five DA white dwarfs were identified as having photometric excesses indicative of a low mass companion, with 8-10 of these having a predicted mass in the range asso- ciated with brown dwarfs. The results of this survey show that the unresolved (< 2") brown dwarf companion fraction to DA white dwarfs is 0.3 \leq fWD+BD \leq 1.3%.

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arXiv2011

On the Origin of Metals in Some Hot White Dwarf Photospheres

We have searched for evidence for dust and gas disks at a sample of hot DA white dwarfs 20 000K < Teff < 50 000K, without success. Although their atmospheres are polluted with heavy elements, we cannot yet convincingly and conclusively show that any of these objects is accreting metals from surrounding material derived from disrupted minor planets in an old solar system.

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arXiv2011

Accretion of a Terrestrial-Like Minor Planet by a White Dwarf

We present optical and infrared characterization of the polluted DAZ white dwarf GALEX J193156.8+011745. Imaging and spectroscopy from the ultraviolet to the thermal infrared indicates that the white dwarf hosts excess infrared emission consistent with the presence of an orbiting dusty debris disk. In addition to the five elements previously identified, our optical echelle spectroscopy reveals chromium and manganese and enables restrictive upper limits on several other elements. Synthesis of all detections and upper limits suggests that the white dwarf has accreted a differentiated parent body. We compare the inferred bulk elemental composition of the accreted parent body to expectations for the bulk composition of an Earth-like planet stripped of its crust and mantle and find relatively good agreement. At least two processes could be important in shaping the final bulk elemental composition of rocky bodies during the late phases of stellar evolution: irradiation and interaction with the dense stellar wind.

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arXiv2011

Evidence for Terrestrial Planetary System Remnants at White Dwarfs

The last several years have brought about a dynamic shift in the view of exoplanetary systems in the post-main sequence, perhaps epitomized by the evidence for surviving rocky planetary bodies at white dwarfs. Coinciding with the launch of the Spitzer Space Telescope, both space- and ground-based data have supported a picture whereby asteroid analogs persist at a significant fraction of cool white dwarfs, and are prone to tidal disruption when passing close to the compact stellar remnant. The ensuing debris can produce a detectable infrared excess, and the material gradually falls onto the star, polluting the atmosphere with heavy elements that can be used to determine the bulk composition of the destroyed planetary body. Based on the observations to date, the parent bodies inferred at white dwarfs are best described as asteroids, and have a distinctly rocky composition similar to material found in the inner Solar System. Their minimum masses are typical of large asteroids, and can approach or exceed the mass of Vesta and Ceres, the two largest asteroids in the Solar System. From the number of stars surveyed in various studies, the fraction of white dwarfs that host terrestrial planetary system remnants is at least a few percent, but likely to be in the range 20% to 30%. Therefore, A- and F-type stars form terrestrial planets efficiently, with a frequency at least as high as the remnants detected at their white dwarf descendants.

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arXiv2011

Possible Signs of Water and Differentiation in a Rocky Exoplanetary Body

Spitzer observations reveal the presence of warm debris from a tidally destroyed rocky and possibly icy planetary body orbiting the white dwarf GD 61. Ultraviolet and optical spectroscopy of the metal-contaminated stellar photosphere reveal traces of hydrogen, oxygen, magnesium, silicon, iron, and calcium. The nominal ratios of these elements indicate an excess of oxygen relative to that expected from rock-forming metal oxides, and thus it is possible that water was accreted together with the terrestrial-like debris. Iron is found to be deficient relative to magnesium and silicon, suggesting the material may have originated as the outer layers of a differentiated parent body, as is widely accepted for the Moon.

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