arXiv subjects

Roberto Raddi

Publications and source records attributed to Roberto Raddi.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2023

A hidden population of white dwarfs with atmospheric carbon traces in the Gaia bifurcation

The ESA Gaia space mission has revealed a bifurcation of the white dwarf (WD) sequence on the color magnitude diagram in two branches: A and B. While the A branch consists mostly of WDs with H-rich atmospheres, the B branch is not completely understood. Although invoked to be populated mainly by He-rich WDs, the B branch overlaps a $\sim 0.8M_\odot$ evolutionary track with a pure He envelope, fact that would imply an unexpected peak in the WD mass distribution. In cold He-rich WDs, it is expected that the outer convective zone penetrates into deep C-rich layers, thus leading to a slight C contamination in their surfaces at $\sim 10,000$K. Here we aim at studying the Gaia bifurcation as the natural consequence of C dredge-up by convection in cold He-dominated WDs. Relying on accurate atmosphere models, we provide a new set of evolutionary models for He-rich WDs employing different prescriptions for the C enrichment. On the basis of these models, we made a population synthesis study of the Gaia 100pc WD sample to constrain the models that best fit the bifurcation. Our study shows that He-rich WD models with a slight C contamination below the optical detection limit can accurately reproduce the Gaia bifurcation. We refer to these stars as stealth DQ WDs because they do not exhibit detectable C signatures in their optical spectra, but the presence of C in their atmosphere produces a continuum absorption favouring the emission in bluer wavelengths, thereby creating the B branch of the bifurcation. Also, we show that the mass distribution for He-rich WDs obtained when a stealth C contamination is considered is consistent with the mass distribution for H-rich WDs and with the standard evolutionary channels for their formation. We conclude that stealth DQ WDs can account for the lower branch in the Gaia bifurcation. The C signatures of these stars could be detectable in Ultra-Violet spectra.

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arXiv2022

Can we reveal the core-chemical composition of ultra-massive white dwarfs through their magnetic fields?

Ultra-massive white dwarfs ($ 1.05 \rm M_\odot \lesssim M_{WD}$) are particularly interesting objects that allow us to study extreme astrophysical phenomena such as type Ia supernovae explosions and merger events. Traditionally, ultra-massive white dwarfs are thought to harbour oxygen-neon (ONe) cores. However, recent theoretical studies and new observations suggest that some ultra-massive white dwarfs could harbour carbon-oxygen (CO) cores. Although several studies have attempted to elucidate the core composition of ultra-massive white dwarfs, to date, it has not been possible to distinguish them through their observed properties. Here, we present a new method for revealing the core-chemical composition in ultra-massive white dwarfs that is based on the study of magnetic fields generated by convective mixing induced by the crystallization process. ONe white dwarfs crystallize at higher luminosities than their CO counterparts. Therefore, the study of magnetic ultra-massive white dwarfs in the particular domain where ONe cores have reached the crystallization conditions but CO cores have not, may provide valuable support to their ONe core-chemical composition, since ONe white dwarfs would display signs of magnetic fields and CO would not. We apply our method to eight white dwarfs with magnetic field measurements and we suggest that these stars are candidate ONe white dwarfs.

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arXiv2022

Gaia0007-1605: an old triple system with an inner brown dwarf-white dwarf binary and an outer white dwarf companion

We identify Gaia0007-1605AC as the first inner brown dwarf-white dwarf binary of a hierarchical triple system in which the outer component is another white dwarf (Gaia0007-1605B). From optical/near-infrared spectroscopy obtained at the Very Large Telescope with the X-Shooter instrument and/or from Gaia photometry plus SED fitting, we determine the effective temperatures and masses of the two white dwarfs (12018+-68 K, 0.54+-0.01 Msun for Gaia0007-1605A and 4445+-116 K, 0.56+-0.05 Msun for Gaia0007-1605B) and the effective temperature of the brown dwarf (1850+-50 K; corresponding to a spectral type L3+-1). By analysing the available TESS light curves of Gaia0007-1605AC we detect a signal at 1.0446+-0.0015 days with an amplitude of 6.25 ppt, which we interpret as the orbital period modulated from irradiation effects of the white dwarf on the brown dwarf's surface. This drives us to speculate that the inner binary evolved through a common envelope phase in the past. Using the outer white dwarf as a cosmochronometer and analysing the kinematic properties of the system, we conclude that the triple system is about 10 Gyr old.

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arXiv2021

Non-local thermodynamic equilibrium spectral analysis of five hot, hydrogen-deficient pre-white dwarfs

Hot, compact, hydrogen-deficient pre-white dwarfs (pre-WDs) with effective temperatures of Teff > 70,000 K and a surface gravity of 5.0 < log g < 7.0 are rather rare objects despite recent and ongoing surveys. It is believed that they are the outcome of either single star evolution (late helium-shell flash or late helium-core flash) or binary star evolution (double WD merger). Their study is interesting because the surface elemental abundances reflect the physics of thermonuclear flashes and merger events. Spectroscopically they are divided in three different classes, namely PG1159, O(He), or He-sdO. We present a spectroscopic analysis of five such stars that turned out to have atmospheric parameters in the range Teff = 70,000-80,000 K and log g = 5.2-6.3. The three investigated He-sdOs have a relatively high hydrogen mass fraction (10%) that is unexplained by both single (He core flash) and binary evolution (He-WD merger) scenarios. The O(He) star JL9 is probably a binary helium-WD merger, but its hydrogen content (6%) is also at odds with merger models. We found that RL 104 is the 'coolest' (Teff = 80,000 K) member of the PG1159 class in a pre-WD stage. Its optical spectrum is remarkable because it exhibits C IV lines involving Rydberg states with principal quantum numbers up to n = 22. Its rather low mass (0.48 +0.03/-0.02 Msun) is difficult to reconcile with the common evolutionary scenario for PG1159 stars due to it being the outcome of a (very) late He-shell flash. The same mass-problem faces a merger model of a close He-sdO plus CO WD binary that predicts PG1159-like abundances. Perhaps RL 104 originates from a very late He-shell flash in a CO/He WD formed by a merger of two low-mass He-WDs.

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arXiv2021

8.9-hr Rotation in the Partly Burnt Runaway Stellar Remnant LP 40-365 (GD 492)

We report the detection of 8.914-hr variability in both optical and ultraviolet light curves of LP 40-365 (also known as GD 492), the prototype for a class of partly burnt runaway stars that have been ejected from a binary due to a thermonuclear supernova event. We first detected this 1.0% amplitude variation in optical photometry collected by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite. Re-analysis of observations from the Hubble Space Telescope at the TESS period and ephemeris reveal a 5.8% variation in the ultraviolet of this 9800 K stellar remnant. We propose that this 8.914-hr photometric variation reveals the current surface rotation rate of LP 40-365, and is caused by some kind of surface inhomogeneity rotating in and out of view, though a lack of observed Zeeman splitting puts an upper limit on the magnetic field of <20 kG. We explore ways in which the present rotation period can constrain progenitor scenarios if angular momentum was mostly conserved, which suggests that the survivor LP 40-365 was not the donor star but was most likely the bound remnant of a mostly disrupted white dwarf that underwent advanced burning from an underluminous (Type Iax) supernova.

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arXiv2021

Forever young white dwarfs: when stellar ageing stops

White dwarf stars are the most common end point of stellar evolution. Of special interest are the ultramassive white dwarfs, as they are related to type Ia Supernovae explosions, merger events, and Fast Radio Bursts. Ultramassive white dwarfs are expected to harbour oxygen-neon (ONe) cores as a result of single standard stellar evolution. However, a fraction of them could have carbon-oxygen (CO) cores. Recent studies, based on the new observations provided by the {\it Gaia} space mission, indicate that a small fraction of the ultramassive white dwarfs experience a strong delay in their cooling, which cannot be attributed only to the occurrence of crystallization, thus requiring an unknown energy source able to prolong their life for long periods of time. In this study we find that the energy released by $^{22}$Ne sedimentation in the deep interior of ultramassive white dwarfs with CO cores and high $^{22}$Ne content is consistent with the long cooling delay of these stellar remnants. On the basis of a synthesis study of the white dwarf population, based on Monte Carlo techniques, we find that the observations revealed by {\it Gaia} can be explained by the existence of these prolonged youth ultramassive white dwarfs. Although such a high $^{22}$Ne abundance is not consistent with the standard evolutionary channels, our results provide sustain to the existence of CO-core ultramassive white dwarfs and to the occurrence of $^{22}$Ne sedimentation.

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arXiv2021

Blue extreme disk-runaway stars with Gaia EDR3

Since the discovery of hypervelocity stars in 2005, it has been widely believed that only the disruption of a binary system by a supermassive black hole at the Galactic center (GC), that is, the so-called Hills mechanism, is capable of accelerating stars to beyond the Galactic escape velocity. In the meantime, however, driven by the Gaia space mission, there is mounting evidence that many of the most extreme high-velocity early-type stars at high Galactic latitudes do originate in the Galactic disk and not in the GC. Moreover, the ejection velocities of these extreme disk-runaway stars exceed the predicted limits of the classical scenarios for the production of runaway stars. Based on proper motions from the Gaia early data release 3 and on recent and new spectrophotometric distances, we studied the kinematics of 30 such extreme disk-runaway stars, allowing us to deduce their spatial origins in and their ejection velocities from the Galactic disk with unprecedented precision. Only three stars in the sample have past trajectories that are consistent with an origin in the GC, most notably S5-HVS1, which is the most extreme object in the sample by far. All other program stars are shown to be disk runaways with ejection velocities that sharply contrast at least with classical ejection scenarios. They include HVS5 and HVS6, which are both gravitationally unbound to the Milky Way. While most stars originate from within a galactocentric radius of 15kpc, which corresponds to the observed extent of the spiral arms, a group of five stars stems from radii of about 21-29kpc. This indicates a possible link to outer Galactic rings and a potential origin from infalling satellite galaxies.

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arXiv2021

The Gaia DR2 halo white dwarf population: the luminosity function, mass distribution and its star formation history

We analyze the volume-limited nearly complete 100 pc sample of 95 halo white dwarf candidates identified by the second data release of Gaia. Based on a detailed population synthesis model, we apply a method that relies on Gaia astrometry and photometry to accurately derive the individual white dwarf parameters (mass, radius, effective temperature, bolometric luminosity and age). This method is tested with 25 white dwarfs of our sample for which we took optical spectra and performed spectroscopic analysis. We build and analyse the halo white dwarf luminosity function, for which we find for the first time possible evidences of the cut-off at its faintest end, leading to an age estimate of $\simeq12\pm0.5 $Gyr. The mass distribution of the sample peaks at $0.589\,M_{\odot}$, with $71\%$ of the white dwarf masses below $0.6\,M_{\odot}$ and just two massive white dwarfs of more than $0.8\,M_{\odot}$. From the age distribution we find three white dwarfs with total ages above 12 Gyr, of which J1312-4728 is the oldest white dwarf known with an age of $12.41\pm0.22 $Gyr. We prove that the star formation history is mainly characterised by a burst of star formation that occurred from 10 to 12 Gyr in the past, but extended up to 8 Gyr. We also find that the peak of the star formation history is centered at around 11 Gyr, which is compatible with the current age of the Gaia-Enceladus encounter. Finally, $13\%$ of our halo sample is contaminated by high-speed young objects (total age<7 Gyr). The origin of these white dwarfs is unclear but their age distribution may be compatible with the encounter with the Sagittarius galaxy.

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arXiv2020

Runaway blue main-sequence stars at high Galactic latitudes. Target selection with Gaia and spectroscopic identification

Motivated by the historical identification of runaway main-sequence (MS) stars of early spectral type at high Galactic latitudes, we test the capability of Gaia at identifying new such stars. We have selected ~2300 sources with Gaia magnitudes of GBP - GRP < 0.05, compatible with the colors of low-extinction MS stars earlier than mid-A spectral type, and obtained low-resolution optical spectroscopy for 48 such stars. By performing detailed photometric and spectroscopic analyses, we derive their atmospheric and physical parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity, radial velocity, interstellar reddening, spectrophotometric distance, mass, radius, luminosity, and age). The comparison between spectrophotometric and parallax-based distances enables us to disentangle the MS candidates from older blue horizontal branch (BHB) candidates. We identify 12 runaway MS candidates, with masses between 2 and 6 Msun. Their trajectories are traced back to the Galactic disc to identify their most recent Galactic plane crossings and the corresponding flight times. All 12 candidates are ejected from the Galactic disc within 2 to 16.5 kpc from the Galactic center and possess flight times that are shorter than their evolutionary ages, compatible with a runaway hypothesis. Three MS candidates have ejection velocities exceeding 450 km/s, thus, appear to challenge the canonical ejection scenarios for late B-type stars. The fastest star of our sample also has a non-negligible Galactic escape probability if its MS nature can be confirmed. We identify 27 BHB candidates, and the two hottest stars in our sample are rare late O and early B type stars of low mass evolving towards the white dwarf cooling sequence.

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arXiv2020

White dwarf pollution by hydrated planetary remnants: Hydrogen and Metals in WD J204713.76-125908.9

WD J204713.76-125908.9 is a new addition to the small class of white dwarfs with helium-dominated photospheres that exhibit strong Balmer absorption lines and atmospheric metal pollution. The exceptional abundances of hydrogen observed in these stars may be the result of accretion of water-rich rocky bodies. We obtained far-ultraviolet and optical spectroscopy of WD J204713.76-125908.9 using the Cosmic Origin Spectrograph on-board the Hubble Space Telescope and X-shooter on the Very Large Telescope, and identify photospheric absorption lines of nine metals: C, O, Mg, Si, P, S, Ca, Fe and Ni. The abundance ratios are consistent with the steady state accretion of exo-planetesimal debris rich in the volatile elements carbon and oxygen, and the transitional element sulphur, by factors of seventeen, two, and four respectively compared to bulk Earth. The parent body has a composition akin to Solar System carbonaceous chondrites, and the inferred minimum mass, $1.6 \times 10^{20}$ g, is comparable to an asteroid 23 km in radius. We model the composition of the disrupted parent body, finding from our simulations a median water mass fraction of eight per cent.

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arXiv2020

SDSS J124043.01+671034.68: The partially burned remnant of a low-mass white dwarf that underwent thermonuclear ignition?

The white dwarf SDSS J124043.01+671034.68 (SDSS J1240+6710) was previously found to have an oxygen-dominated atmosphere with significant traces of neon, magnesium, and silicon. A possible origin via a violent late thermal pulse or binary interactions have been suggested to explain this very unusual photospheric composition. We report the additional detection of carbon, sodium, and aluminium in far-ultraviolet and optical follow-up spectroscopy. No iron-group elements are detected, with tight upper limits on iron, cobalt and nickel, suggesting that the star underwent partial oxygen burning, but failed to ignite silicon burning. Modelling the spectral energy distribution and adopting the distance based on the Gaia parallax, we infer a low white dwarf mass, M(wd)=0.41+/-0.05Msun. The large space velocity of SDSS J1240+6710, computed from the Gaia proper motion and its radial velocity, is compatible with a Galactic rest-frame velocity of ~250km/s in the opposite direction with respect to the Galactic rotation, strongly supporting a binary origin of this star. We discuss the properties of SDSS J1240+6710 in the context of the recently identified survivors of thermonuclear supernovae, the D6 and LP 40-365 stars, and conclude that it is unlikely related to either of those two groups. We tentatively suggest that SDSS J1240+6710 is the partially burned remnant of a low-mass white dwarf that underwent a thermonuclear event.

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arXiv2019

A planetesimal orbiting within the debris disc around a white dwarf star

Many white dwarf stars show signs of having accreted smaller bodies, implying that they may host planetary systems. A small number of these systems contain gaseous debris discs, visible through emission lines. We report a stable 123.4min periodic variation in the strength and shape of the CaII emission line profiles originating from the debris disc around the white dwarf SDSSJ122859.93+104032.9. We interpret this short-period signal as the signature of a solid body held together by its internal strength.

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arXiv2019

Astro2020 Science White Paper: Understanding the evolution of close white dwarf binaries

Interacting binaries containing white dwarfs can lead to a variety of outcomes that range from powerful thermonuclear explosions, which are important in the chemical evolution of galaxies and as cosmological distance estimators, to strong sources of low frequency gravitational wave radiation, which makes them ideal calibrators for the gravitational low-frequency wave detector LISA mission. However, current theoretical evolution models still fail to explain the observed properties of the known populations of white dwarfs in both interacting and detached binaries. Major limitations are that the existing population models have generally been developed to explain the properties of sub-samples of these systems, occupying small volumes of the vast parameter space, and that the observed samples are severely biased. The overarching goal for the next decade is to assemble a large and homogeneous sample of white dwarf binaries that spans the entire range of evolutionary states, to obtain precise measurements of their physical properties, and to further develop the theory to satisfactorily reproduce the properties of the entire population. While ongoing and future all-sky high- and low-resolution optical spectroscopic surveys allow us to enlarge the sample of these systems, high-resolution ultraviolet spectroscopy is absolutely essential for the characterization of the white dwarfs in these binaries. The Hubble Space Telescope is currently the only facility that provides ultraviolet spectroscopy, and with its foreseeable demise, planning the next ultraviolet mission is of utmost urgency.

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arXiv2018

A $Gaia$ Data Release 2 catalogue of white dwarfs and a comparison with SDSS

We present a catalogue of white dwarf candidates selected from the second data release of $Gaia$ (DR2). We used a sample of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to map the entire space spanned by these objects in the $Gaia$ Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. We then defined a set of cuts in absolute magnitude, colour, and a number of $Gaia$ quality flags to remove the majority of contaminating objects. Finally, we adopt a method analogous to the one presented in our earlier SDSS photometric catalogues to calculate a probability of being a white dwarf ($P_{\mathrm{WD}}$) for all $Gaia$ sources which passed the initial selection. The final catalogue is composed of $486\,641$ stars with calculated $P_{\mathrm{WD}}$ from which it is possible to select a sample of $\simeq 260\,000$ high-confidence white dwarf candidates in the magnitude range $8 7000$ K, at high Galactic latitudes ($|b|>20^{\circ}$). However, the completeness drops at low Galactic latitudes, and the magnitude limit of the catalogue varies significantly across the sky as a function of $Gaia$'s scanning law. We also provide the list of objects within our sample with available SDSS spectroscopy. We use this spectroscopic sample to characterise the observed structure of the white dwarf distribution in the H-R diagram.

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arXiv2018

Detection of a giant flare displaying quasi-periodic pulsations from a pre-main sequence M star with NGTS

We present the detection of an energetic flare on the pre-main sequence M3 star NGTS J121939.5-355557, which we estimate as only 2 Myr old. The flare had an energy of $3.2\pm^{0.4}_{0.3}\times 10^{36}$erg and a fractional amplitude of $7.2\pm0.8$, making it one of the most energetic flares seen on an M star. The star is also X-ray active, in the saturated regime with $log L_{X}/L_{Bol} = -3.1$. In the flare peak we have identified multi-mode quasi-periodic pulsations formed of two statistically significant periods of approximately 320 and 660 seconds. This flare is one of the largest amplitude events to exhibit such pulsations. The shorter period mode is observed to start after a short-lived spike in flux lasting around 30 seconds, which would not have been resolved in Kepler or TESS short cadence modes. Our data shows how the high cadence of NGTS can be used to apply solar techniques to stellar flares and identify potential causes of the observed oscillations. We also discuss the implications of this flare for the habitability of planets around M star hosts and how NGTS can aid in our understanding of this.

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arXiv2018

NGTS-2b: An inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F-dwarf

We report the discovery of NGTS-2b, an inflated hot-Jupiter transiting a bright F5V star (2MASS J14202949-3112074; $T_{\rm eff}$=$6478^{+94}_{-89}$ K), discovered as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The planet is in a P=4.51 day orbit with mass $0.74^{+0.13}_{-0.12}$ M$_{J}$, radius $1.595^{+0.047}_{-0.045}$ R$_{J}$ and density $0.226^{+0.040}_{-0.038}$ g cm$^{-3}$; therefore one of the lowest density exoplanets currently known. With a relatively deep 1.0% transit around a bright V=10.96 host star, NGTS-2b is a prime target for probing giant planet composition via atmospheric transmission spectroscopy. The rapid rotation ($vsin$i=$15.2\pm0.8$ km s$^{-1}$) also makes this system an excellent candidate for Rossiter-McLaughlin follow-up observations, to measure the sky-projected stellar obliquity. NGTS-2b was confirmed without the need for follow-up photometry, due to the high precision of the NGTS photometry.

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arXiv2017

NGTS-1b: A hot Jupiter transiting an M-dwarf

We present the discovery of NGTS-1b, a hot-Jupiter transiting an early M-dwarf host ($T_{eff}=3916^{+71}_{-63}~K$) in a P=2.674d orbit discovered as part of the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS). The planet has a mass of $0.812^{+0.066}_{-0.075}~M_{J}$, making it the most massive planet ever discovered transiting an M-dwarf. The radius of the planet is $1.33^{+0.61}_{-0.33}~R_{J}$. Since the transit is grazing, we determine this radius by modelling the data and placing a prior on the density from the population of known gas giant planets. NGTS-1b is the third transiting giant planet found around an M-dwarf, reinforcing the notion that close-in gas giants can form and migrate similar to the known population of hot Jupiters around solar type stars. The host star shows no signs of activity, and the kinematics hint at the star being from the thick disk population. With a deep (2.5%) transit around a $K=11.9$ host, NGTS-1b will be a strong candidate to probe giant planet composition around M-dwarfs via JWST transmission spectroscopy.

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arXiv2017

The Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS)

We describe the Next Generation Transit Survey (NGTS), which is a ground-based project searching for transiting exoplanets orbiting bright stars. NGTS builds on the legacy of previous surveys, most notably WASP, and is designed to achieve higher photometric precision and hence find smaller planets than have previously been detected from the ground. It also operates in red light, maximising sensitivity to late K and early M dwarf stars. The survey specifications call for photometric precision of 0.1 per cent in red light over an instantaneous field of view of 100 square degrees, enabling the detection of Neptune-sized exoplanets around Sun-like stars and super-Earths around M dwarfs. The survey is carried out with a purpose-built facility at Cerro Paranal, Chile, which is the premier site of the European Southern Observatory (ESO). An array of twelve 20cm f/2.8 telescopes fitted with back-illuminated deep-depletion CCD cameras are used to survey fields intensively at intermediate Galactic latitudes. The instrument is also ideally suited to ground-based photometric follow-up of exoplanet candidates from space telescopes such as TESS, Gaia and PLATO. We present observations that combine precise autoguiding and the superb observing conditions at Paranal to provide routine photometric precision of 0.1 per cent in 1 hour for stars with I-band magnitudes brighter than 13. We describe the instrument and data analysis methods as well as the status of the survey, which achieved first light in 2015 and began full survey operations in 2016. NGTS data will be made publicly available through the ESO archive.

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