arXiv subjects

Steven G. Parsons

Publications and source records attributed to Steven G. Parsons.

36 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2022

Circular Polarimetry of Suspect Wind-accreting Magnetic pre-Polars

We present results from a circular polarimetric survey of candidate detached magnetic white dwarf - M dwarf binaries obtained using the Nordic Optical Telescope, La Palma. We obtained phase resolved spectropolarimetry and imaging polarimetry of seven systems, five of which show clearly variable circular polarisation. The data indicate that these targets have white dwarfs with magnetic field strengths > 80 MG. Our study reveals that cyclotron emission can dominate the optical luminosity at wavelengths corresponding to the cyclotron emission harmonics, even in systems where the white dwarfs are only wind-accreting. This implies that a very significant fraction of the the stellar wind of the companion star is captured by the magnetic white dwarf reducing the magnetic braking in pre-CVs. Furthermore, the polarimetric confirmation of several detached, wind-accreting magnetic systems provides observational constraints on the models of magnetic CV evolution and white dwarf magnetic field generation. We also find that the white dwarf magnetic field configuration in at least two of these systems appears to be very complex.

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arXiv2022

Magnetic dynamos in white dwarfs -III: explaining the occurrence of strong magnetic fields in close double white dwarfs

The origin of strong magnetic fields in white dwarfs has been a puzzle for decades. Recently, a dynamo mechanism operating in rapidly rotating and crystallizing white dwarfs has been suggested to explain the occurrence rates of strong magnetic fields in white dwarfs with close low-mass main sequence star companions. Here we investigate whether the same mechanism may produce strong magnetic fields in close double white dwarfs. The only known strongly magnetic white dwarf that is part of a close double white dwarf system, the magnetic component of NLTT 12758, is rapidly rotating and likely crystallizing and therefore the proposed dynamo mechanism represents an excellent scenario for the origin of its magnetic field. Presenting a revised formation scenario for NLTT 12758, we find a natural explanation for the rapid rotation of the magnetic component. We furthermore show that it is not surprising that strong magnetic fields have not been detected in all other known double white dwarfs. We therefore conclude that the incidence of magnetic fields in close double white dwarfs supports the idea that a rotation and crystallization driven dynamo plays a major role in the generation of strong magnetic fields in white dwarfs.

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arXiv2022

Characterising eclipsing white dwarf M dwarf binaries from multi-band eclipse photometry

With the prevalence of wide-field, time-domain photometric sky surveys, the number of eclipsing white dwarf systems being discovered is increasing dramatically. An efficient method to follow these up will be key to determining any population trends and finding any particularly interesting examples. We demonstrate that multi-band eclipse photometry of binaries containing a white dwarf and an M~dwarf can be used to determine the masses and temperatures of the white dwarfs to better than 5 per cent. For the M~dwarfs we measure their parameters to a precision of better than 6 per cent with the uncertainty dominated by the intrinsic scatter of the M~dwarf mass-radius relationship. This precision is better than what can typically be achieved with low-resolution spectroscopy. The nature of this method means that it will be applicable to LSST data in the future, enabling direct characterisation without follow-up spectroscopy. Additionally, we characterise three new post-common-envelope binaries from their eclipse photometry, finding two systems containing hot helium-core white dwarfs with low-mass companions (one near the brown dwarf transition regime) and a possible detached cataclysmic variable at the lower edge of the period gap.

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arXiv2021

Breaking the degeneracy in magnetic cataclysmic variable X-ray spectral modeling using X-ray light curves

We present an analysis of mock X-ray spectra and light curves of magnetic cataclysmic variables using an upgraded version of the 3D CYCLOPS code. This 3D representation of the accretion flow allows us to properly model total and partial occultation of the post-shock region by the white dwarf as well as the modulation of the X-ray light curves due to the phase-dependent extinction of the pre-shock region. We carried out detailed post-shock region modeling in a four-dimensional parameter space by varying the white dwarf mass and magnetic field strength as well as the magnetosphere radius and the specific accretion rate. To calculate the post-shock region temperature and density profiles, we assumed equipartition between ions and electrons, took into account the white dwarf gravitational potential, the finite size of the magnetosphere and a dipole-like magnetic field geometry, and considered cooling by both bremsstrahlung and cyclotron radiative processes. By investigating the impact of the parameters on the resulting X-ray continuum spectra, we show that there is an inevitable degeneracy in the four-dimensional parameter space investigated here, which compromises X-ray continuum spectral fitting strategies and can lead to incorrect parameter estimates. However, the inclusion of X-ray light curves in different energy ranges can break this degeneracy, and it therefore remains, in principle, possible to use X-ray data to derive fundamental parameters of magnetic cataclysmic variables, which represents an essential step toward understanding their formation and evolution.

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arXiv2021

Magnetic dynamos in white dwarfs -- II. Relating magnetism and pollution

We investigate whether the recently suggested rotation and crystallization driven dynamo can explain the apparent increase of magnetism in old metal polluted white dwarfs. We find that the effective temperature distribution of polluted magnetic white dwarfs is in agreement with most/all of them having a crystallizing core and increased rotational velocities are expected due to accretion of planetary material which is evidenced by the metal absorption lines. We conclude that a rotation and crystallization driven dynamo offers not only an explanation for the different occurrence rates of strongly magnetic white dwarfs in close binaries, but also for the high incidence of weaker magnetic fields in old metal polluted white dwarfs.

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arXiv2021

The origin and evolution of magnetic white dwarfs in close binary stars

The origin of magnetic fields in white dwarfs remains a fundamental unresolved problem in stellar astrophysics. In particular, the very different fractions of strongly (exceeding 1 MG) magnetic white dwarfs in evolutionarily linked populations of close white dwarf binary stars cannot be reproduced by any scenario suggested so far. Strongly magnetic white dwarfs are absent among detached white dwarf binary stars that are younger than approximately 1 Gyr. In contrast, in semi-detached cataclysmic variables in which the white dwarf accretes from a low-mass star companion, more than one third host a strongly magnetic white dwarf. Here we present binary star evolutionary models that include the spin evolution of accreting white dwarfs and crystallization of their cores, as well as magnetic field interactions between both stars. We show that a crystallization- and rotation-driven dynamo similar to those working in planets and low-mass stars can generate strong magnetic fields in the white dwarfs in cataclysmic variables which explains their large fraction among the observed population. When the magnetic field generated in the white dwarfs connects with that of the secondary stars, synchronization torques and reduced angular momentum loss cause the binary to detach for a relatively short period of time. The few known strongly magnetic white dwarfs in detached binaries, including AR Sco, are in this detached phase.

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arXiv2020

The dust never settles: collisional production of gas and dust in evolved planetary systems

Multi-epoch infrared photometry from Spitzer is used to monitor circumstellar discs at white dwarfs, which are consistent with disrupted minor planets whose debris is accreted and chemically reflected by their host stars. Widespread infrared variability is found across the population of 37 stars with two or more epochs. Larger flux changes occur on longer time-scales, reaching several tens of per cent over baselines of a few years. The canonical model of a geometrically thin, optically thick disc is thus insufficient, as it cannot give rise to the observed behaviour. Optically thin dust best accounts for the variability, where collisions drive dust production and destruction. Notably, the highest infrared variations are seen in systems that show Ca II emission, supporting planetesimal collisions for all known debris discs, with the most energetic occurring in those with detected gaseous debris. The sample includes the only polluted white dwarf with a circumbinary disc, where the signal of the day-night cycle of its irradiated substellar companion appears diluted by dust emission.

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arXiv2020

Spectroscopic and Photometric Periods of Six Ultracompact Accreting Binaries

Ultracompact accreting binary systems each consist of a stellar remnant accreting helium-enriched material from a compact donor star. Such binaries include two related sub-classes, AM CVn-type binaries and helium cataclysmic variables, in both of which the central star is a white dwarf. We present a spectroscopic and photometric study of six accreting binaries with orbital periods in the range of 40--70 min, including phase-resolved VLT spectroscopy and high-speed ULTRACAM photometry. Four of these are AM CVn systems and two are helium cataclysmic variables. For four of these binaries we are able to identify orbital periods (of which three are spectroscopic). SDSS J1505+0659 has an orbital period of 67.8 min, significantly longer than previously believed, and longer than any other known AM CVn binary. We identify a WISE infrared excess in SDSS J1505+0659 that we believe to be the first direct detection of an AM CVn donor star in a non-direct impacting binary. The mass ratio of SDSS J1505+0659 is consistent with a white dwarf donor. CRTS J1028-0819 has an orbital period of 52.1 min, the shortest period of any helium cataclysmic variable. MOA 2010-BLG-087 is co-aligned with a K-class star that dominates its spectrum. ASASSN-14ei and ASASSN-14mv both show a remarkable number of echo outbursts following superoutbursts (13 and 10 echo outbursts respectively). ASASSN-14ei shows an increased outburst rate over the years following its superoutburst, perhaps resulting from an increased accretion rate.

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arXiv2020

A pulsating white dwarf in an eclipsing binary

White dwarfs are the burnt out cores of Sun-like stars and are the final fate of 97% of all stars in our Galaxy. The internal structure and composition of white dwarfs are hidden by their high gravities, which causes all elements, apart from the lightest ones, to settle out of their atmospheres. The most direct method to probe the inner structure of stars and white dwarfs in detail is via asteroseismology. Here we present the first known pulsating white dwarf in an eclipsing binary system, enabling us to place extremely precise constraints on the mass and radius of the white dwarf from the light curve, independent of the pulsations. This 0.325M$_\odot$ white dwarf --- one member of SDSS J115219.99+024814.4 --- will serve as a powerful benchmark to constrain empirically the core composition of low-mass stellar remnants and investigate the effects of close binary evolution on the internal structure of white dwarfs.

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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

Accurate mass and radius determinations of a cool subdwarf in an eclipsing binary

Cool subdwarfs are metal-poor low-mass stars that formed during the early stages of the evolution of our Galaxy. Because they are relatively rare in the vicinity of the Sun, we know of few cool subdwarfs in the solar neighbourhood, and none with both the mass and the radius accurately determined. This hampers our understanding of stars at the low-mass end of the main-sequence. Here we report the discovery of SDSSJ235524.29+044855.7 as an eclipsing binary containing a cool subdwarf star, with a white dwarf companion. From the light-curve and the radial-velocity curve of the binary we determine the mass and the radius of the cool subdwarf and we derive its effective temperature and luminosity by analysing its spectral energy distribution. Our results validate the theoretical mass-radius-effective temperature-luminosity relations for low-mass low-metallicity stars.

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arXiv2017

Accretion signatures in the X-shooter spectrum of the substellar companion to SR12

About a dozen substellar companions orbiting young stellar objects or pre-main sequence stars at several hundred au have been identified in the last decade. These objects are interesting both due to the uncertainties surrounding their formation, and because their large separation from the host star offers the potential to study the atmospheres of young giant planets and brown dwarfs. Here, we present X-shooter spectroscopy of SR 12 C, a $\sim\,2\,$Myrs young brown dwarf orbiting SR 12 at an orbital separation of 1083 au. We determine the spectral type, gravity, and effective temperature via comparison with models and observational templates of young brown dwarfs. In addition, we detect and characterize accretion using several accretion tracers. We find SR 12 C to be a brown dwarf of spectral type L0 $\pm$ 1, $\log$ g = 4 $\pm$ 0.5, an effective temperature of 2600 $\pm$ 100 K. Our spectra provide clear evidence for accretion at a rate of $\sim$ $10^{-10}$ $M_{\odot}yr^{-1}$. This makes SR 12 one of the few sub-stellar companions with a reliable estimate for its accretion rate. A comparison of the ages and accretion rates of sub-stellar companions with young isolated brown dwarfs does not reveal any significant differences. If further accretion rate measurements of a large number of substellar companions can confirm this trend, this would hint towards a similar formation mechanism for substellar companions at large separations and isolated brown dwarfs.

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arXiv2016

Spectroscopic Evolution of Disintegrating Planetesimals: Minutes to Months Variability in the Circumstellar Gas Associated with WD 1145+017

With the recent discovery of transiting planetary material around WD 1145+017, a critical target has been identified that links the evolution of planetary systems with debris disks and their accretion onto the star. We present a series of observations, five epochs over a year, taken with Keck and the VLT, which for the first time show variability of circumstellar absorption in the gas disk surrounding WD 1145+017 on timescales of minutes to months. Circumstellar absorption is measured in more than 250 lines of 14 ions among ten different elements associated with planetary composition, e.g., O, Mg, Ca, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni. Broad circumstellar gas absorption with a velocity spread of 225 km/s is detected, but over the course of a year blue shifted absorption disappears while redshifted absorption systematically increases. A correlation of equivalent width and oscillator strength indicates that the gas is not highly optically thick (median tau approximately 2). We discuss simple models of an eccentric disk coupled with magnetospheric accretion to explain the basic observed characteristics of these high resolution and high signal-to-noise observations. Variability is detected on timescales of minutes in the two most recent observations, showing a loss of redshifted absorption for tens of minutes, coincident with major transit events and consistent with gas hidden behind opaque transiting material. This system currently presents a unique opportunity to learn how the gas causing the spectroscopic, circumstellar absorption is associated with the ongoing accretion evidenced by photospheric contamination, as well as the transiting planetary material detected in photometric observations.

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arXiv2016

The Detection of Dust around NN Ser

Eclipse timing variations observed from the post common-envelope binary (PCEB) NN Ser offer strong evidence in favour of circumbinary planets existing around PCEBs. If real, these planets may be accompanied by a disc of dust. We here present the ALMA detection of flux at 1.3 mm from NN Ser, which is likely due to thermal emission from a dust disc of mass $\sim0.8\pm0.2\,M_{\oplus}$. We performed simulations of the history of NN Ser to determine possible origins of this dust, and conclude that the most likely origin is, in fact, common-envelope material which was not expelled from the system and instead formed a circumbinary disc. These discs have been predicted by theory but previously remained undetected. While the presence of this dust does not prove the existence of planets around NN Ser, it adds credibility to the possibility of planets forming from common-envelope material in a 'second-generation' scenario.

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arXiv2016

Detached cataclysmic variables are crossing the orbital period gap

A central hypothesis in the theory of cataclysmic variable (CV) evolution is the need to explain the observed lack of accreting systems in the ~2-3 h orbital period range, known as the period gap. The standard model, disrupted magnetic braking (DMB), reproduces the gap by postulating that CVs transform into inconspicuous detached white dwarf (WD) plus main sequence (MS) systems, which no longer resemble CVs. However, observational evidence for this standard model is currently indirect and thus this scenario has attracted some criticism throughout the last decades. Here we perform a simple but exceptionally strong test of the existence of detached CVs (dCVs). If the theory is correct dCVs should produce a peak in the orbital period distribution of detached close binaries consisting of a WD and an M4-M6 secondary star. We measured six new periods which brings the sample of such binaries with known periods below 10 h to 52 systems. An increase of systems in the ~2-3 h orbital period range is observed. Comparing this result with binary population models we find that the observed peak can not be reproduced by PCEBs alone and that the existence of dCVs is needed to reproduce the observations. Also, the WD mass distribution in the gap shows evidence of two populations in this period range, i.e. PCEBs and more massive dCVs, which is not observed at longer periods. We therefore conclude that CVs are indeed crossing the gap as detached systems, which provides strong support for the DMB theory.

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arXiv2015

Doppler-imaging of the planetary debris disc at the white dwarf SDSS J122859.93+104032.9

Debris discs which orbit white dwarfs are signatures of remnant planetary systems. We present twelve years of optical spectroscopy of the metal-polluted white dwarf SDSS J1228+1040, which shows a steady variation in the morphology of the 8600 Å Ca II triplet line profiles from the gaseous component of its debris disc. We identify additional emission lines of O I, Mg I, Mg II, Fe II and Ca II in the deep co-added spectra. These emission features (including Ca H & K) exhibit a wide range in strength and morphology with respect to each other and to the Ca II triplet, indicating different intensity distributions of these ionic species within the disc. Using Doppler tomography we show that the evolution of the Ca II triplet profile can be interpreted as the precession of a fixed emission pattern with a period in the range 24-30 years. The Ca II line profiles vary on time-scales that are broadly consistent with general relativistic precession of the debris disc.

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arXiv2015

The Composition Of A Disrupted Extrasolar Planetesimal At SDSS J0845+2257 (Ton 345)

We present a detailed study of the metal-polluted DB white dwarf SDSS J0845+2257 (Ton 345). Using high-resolution HST/COS and VLT spectroscopy, we have detected hydrogen and eleven metals in the atmosphere of the white dwarf. The origin of these metals is almost certainly the circumstellar disc of dusty and gaseous debris from a tidally-disrupted planetesimal, accreting at a rate of 1.6E10 gs^-1. Studying the chemical abundances of the accreted material demonstrates that the planetesimal had a composition similar to the Earth, dominated by rocky silicates and metallic iron, with a low water content. The mass of metals within the convection zone of the white dwarf corresponds to an asteroid of at least ~130-170 km in diameter, although the presence of ongoing accretion from the debris disc implies that the planetesimal was probably larger than this. While a previous abundance study of the accreted material has shown an anomalously high mass fraction of carbon (15 percent) compared to the bulk Earth, our independent analysis results in a carbon abundance of just 2.5 percent. Enhanced abundances of core material (Fe, Ni) suggest that the accreted object may have lost a portion of its mantle, possibly due to stellar wind stripping in the asymptotic giant branch. Time-series spectroscopy reveals variable emission from the orbiting gaseous disc, demonstrating that the evolved planetary system at SDSS J0845+2257 is dynamically active.

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arXiv2014

Variable Emission from a Gaseous Disc around a Metal-Polluted White Dwarf

We present the discovery of strongly variable emission lines from a gaseous disc around the DA white dwarf SDSS J1617+1620, a star previously found to have an infrared excess indicative of a dusty debris disc formed by the tidal disruption of a rocky planetary body. Time-series spectroscopy obtained during the period 2006-2014 has shown the appearance of strong double-peaked Ca II emission lines in 2008. The lines were weak, at best, during earlier observations, and monotonically faded through the remainder of our monitoring. Our observations represent unambiguous evidence for short-term variability in the debris environment of evolved planetary systems. Possible explanations for this extraordinary variability include the impact onto the dusty disc of either a single small rocky planetesimal, or of material from a highly eccentric debris tail. The increase in flux from the emission lines is sufficient that similar events could be detected in the broadband photometry of ongoing and future large-area time domain surveys.

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