- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/878/63
- Title:
- Cool WD atmosphere models. IV. Spectral evolution
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/878/63
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- As a result of competing physical mechanisms, the atmospheric composition of white dwarfs changes throughout their evolution, a process known as spectral evolution. Because of the ambiguity of their atmospheric compositions and the difficulties inherent to the modeling of their dense atmospheres, no consensus exists regarding the spectral evolution of cool white dwarfs (Teff<6000K). In the previous papers of this series, we presented and observationally validated a new generation of cool white dwarf atmosphere models that include all the necessary constitutive physics to accurately model those objects. Using these new models and a homogeneous sample of 501 cool white dwarfs, we revisit the spectral evolution of cool white dwarfs. Our sample includes all spectroscopically identified white dwarfs cooler than 8300K for which a parallax is available in Gaia DR2 and photometric observations are available in Pan-STARRS1 and 2MASS. Except for a few cool carbon-polluted objects, our models allow an excellent fit to the spectroscopic and photometric observations of all objects included in our sample. We identify a decrease of the ratio of hydrogen- to helium-rich objects between 7500 and 6250K, which we interpret as the signature of convective mixing. After this decrease, hydrogen-rich objects become more abundant up to 5000K. This puzzling increase, reminiscent of the non-DA gap, has yet to be explained. At lower temperatures, below 5000K, hydrogen-rich white dwarfs become rarer, which rules out the scenario in which the accretion of hydrogen from the interstellar medium dominates the spectral evolution of cool white dwarfs.
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- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/887/203
- Title:
- Core rotation period measurements of KIC stars
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/887/203
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Stars between two and three solar masses rotate rapidly on the main sequence, and the detection of slow core and surface rotation in the core-helium burning phase for these stars places strong constraints on their angular momentum transport and loss. From a detailed asteroseismic study of the mixed-dipole mode pattern in a carefully selected, representative sample of stars, we find that slow core rotation rates in the range reported by prior studies are a general phenomenon and not a selection effect. We show that the core rotation rates of these stars decline strongly with decreasing surface gravity during the core He-burning phase. We argue that this is a model-independent indication of significant rapid angular momentum transport between the cores and envelopes of these stars. We see a significant range in core rotation rates at all surface gravities, with little evidence for a convergence toward a uniform value. We demonstrate using evolutionary models that measured surface rotation periods are a biased tracer of the true surface rotation distribution, and we argue for using stellar models for interpreting the contrast between core and surface rotation rates. The core rotation rates we measure do not have a strong mass or metallicity dependence. We argue that the emerging data strongly favor a model where angular momentum transport is much more efficient during the core He-burning phase than in the shell-burning phases that precede and follow it.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/453/1562
- Title:
- CRTS close supermassive black hole binaries
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/453/1562
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Hierarchical assembly models predict a population of supermassive black hole (SMBH) binaries. These are not resolvable by direct imaging but may be detectable via periodic variability (or nanohertz frequency gravitational waves). Following our detection of a 5.2-year periodic signal in the quasar PG 1302-102, we present a novel analysis of the optical variability of 243 500 known spectroscopically confirmed quasars using data from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey (CRTS) to look for close (<0.1pc) SMBH systems. Looking for a strong Keplerian periodic signal with at least 1.5 cycles over a baseline of nine years, we find a sample of 111 candidate objects. This is in conservative agreement with theoretical predictions from models of binary SMBH populations. Simulated data sets, assuming stochastic variability, also produce no equivalent candidates implying a low likelihood of spurious detections. The periodicity seen is likely attributable to either jet precession, warped accretion discs or periodic accretion associated with a close SMBH binary system. We also consider how other SMBH binary candidates in the literature appear in CRTS data and show that none of these are equivalent to the identified objects. Finally, the distribution of objects found is consistent with that expected from a gravitational-wave-driven population. This implies that circumbinary gas is present at small orbital radii and is being perturbed by the black holes. None of the sources is expected to merge within at least the next century. This study opens a new unique window to study a population of close SMBH binaries that must exist according to our current understanding of galaxy and SMBH evolution.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/454/2946
- Title:
- CSS detached eclipsing binaries
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/454/2946
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Eclipsing binaries play pivotal roles in our understanding of stellar properties. In the era of all-sky surveys, thousands of eclipsing binaries have been charted, yet their light curves remain unexplored. The goal of this work is to use time series and colour information to extract physical parameters of the binary systems when the spectroscopic information is not available. Inspired by the work of Devor et al., we use the Detached Eclipsing Binary Light curve fitter (DEBiL) and the Method for Eclipsing Component Identification (MECI) to derive basic properties of the binary systems identified by the Catalina Sky Surveys. We derive the mass, fractional radius, and age for 2170 binary systems. We report 211 eccentric systems and compare their properties to the tidal circularization theory. From the mass estimate, we present a subsample of low-mass M-dwarfs which warrant further follow-up to test the stellar models at the low-mass regime. With MECI, we are able to estimate the distance to individual eclipsing binary system and use them to probe the large-scale structure of the Milky Way. We demonstrate that DEBiL and MECI are instrumental to investigate eclipsing binary light curves in the era of all-sky surveys, and provide estimates of stellar parameters when the spectroscopic information is not available.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/AJ/159/41
- Title:
- Data for ~550 exoplanets using a neural network
- Short Name:
- J/AJ/159/41
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- While thousands of exoplanets have been confirmed, the known properties about individual discoveries remain sparse and depend on detection technique. To utilize more than a small section of the exoplanet data set, tools need to be developed to estimate missing values based on the known measurements. Here, we demonstrate the use of a neural network that models the density of planets in a space of six properties that is then used to impute a probability distribution for missing values. Our results focus on planetary mass, which neither the radial velocity nor transit techniques for planet identification can provide alone. The neural network can impute mass across the four orders of magnitude in the exoplanet archive, and return a distribution of masses for each planet that can inform us about trends in the underlying data set. The average error on this mass estimate from a radial velocity detection is a factor of 1.5 of the observed value, and 2.7 for a transit observation. The mass of Proxima Centauri b found by this method is 1.6_-0.36_^+0.46^M{Earth}, where the upper and lower bounds are derived from the root mean square deviation from the log mass probability distribution. The network can similarly impute the other potentially missing properties, and we use this to predict planet radius for radial velocity measurements, with an average error of a factor 1.4 of the observed value. The ability of neural networks to search for patterns in multidimensional data means that such techniques have the potential to greatly expand the use of the exoplanet catalog.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJS/156/47
- Title:
- DA white dwarfs from the Palomar Green Survey
- Short Name:
- J/ApJS/156/47
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Spectrophotometric observations at high signal-to-noise ratio were obtained of a complete sample of 347 DA white dwarfs from the Palomar Green (PG) Survey (1986, Cat. <II/207>). Fits of observed Balmer lines to synthetic spectra calculated from pure-hydrogen model atmospheres were used to obtain robust values of T_eff_, log(g), masses, radii, and cooling ages. The luminosity function of the sample, weighted by 1/V_max_, was obtained and compared with other determinations.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/760/26
- Title:
- DA white dwarfs infrared photometry
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/760/26
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present near- and mid-infrared photometry and spectroscopy from PAIRITEL, IRTF, and Spitzer of a metallicity-unbiased sample of 117 cool, hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs (WDs) from the Palomar-Green survey and find five with excess radiation in the infrared, translating to a 4.3^+2.7^_-1.2_% frequency of debris disks. This is slightly higher than, but consistent with the results of previous surveys. Using an initial-final mass relation, we apply this result to the progenitor stars of our sample and conclude that 1-7M_{sun}_ stars have at least a 4.3% chance of hosting planets; an indirect probe of the intermediate-mass regime eluding conventional exoplanetary detection methods. Alternatively, we interpret this result as a limit on accretion timescales as a fraction of WD cooling ages; WDs accrete debris from several generations of disks for ~10Myr. The average total mass accreted by these stars ranges from that of 200km asteroids to Ceres-sized objects, indicating that WDs accrete moons and dwarf planets as well as solar system asteroid analogs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/882/106
- Title:
- DB white dwarfs with SDSS and Gaia data
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/882/106
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- We present a comprehensive analysis of DB white dwarfs drawn from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, based on model fits to ugriz photometry and medium-resolution spectroscopy from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. We also take advantage of the exquisite trigonometric parallax measurements recently obtained by the Gaia mission. Using the so-called photometric and spectroscopic techniques, we measure the atmospheric and physical parameters of each object in our sample (Teff, logg, H/He, Ca/He, R, M), and compare the values obtained from both techniques in order to assess the precision and accuracy of each method. We then explore in great detail the surface gravity, stellar mass, and hydrogen abundance distributions of DB white dwarfs as a function of effective temperature. We present some clear evidence for a large population of unresolved double-degenerate binaries composed of DB+DB and even DB+DA white dwarfs. In the light of our results, we finally discuss the spectral evolution of DB white dwarfs, in particular the evolution of the DB-to-DA ratio as a function of Teff, and we revisit the question of the origin of hydrogen in DBA white dwarfs.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/MNRAS/484/5049
- Title:
- DECam Survey of Scorpius Centaurus
- Short Name:
- J/MNRAS/484/5049
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- Using images taken with the Dark Energy Camera (DECam), the first extensive survey of low mass and substellar objects is made in the ~15-20Myr Upper Centaurus Lupus (UCL) and Lower Centaurus Crux (LCC) subgroups of the Scorpius-Centaurus OB Association (Sco-Cen). Due to the size of our data set (>2Tb), we developed an extensive open source set of python libraries to reduce our images, including astrometry, coaddition, and PSF photometry. Our survey consists of 29x3deg^2^ fields in the UCL and LCC subgroups of Sco-Cen and the creation of a catalogue with over 11 million point sources. We create a prioritized list of UCL and LCC candidate members, with 118 best and another 348 good candidates. We show that the luminosity and mass functions of our low mass and substellar candidates are consistent with measurements for the younger Upper Scorpius subgroup and estimates of a universal IMF, with spectral types ranging from M1 down to L1.
- ID:
- ivo://CDS.VizieR/J/ApJ/719/550
- Title:
- Deep NIR imaging of {rho} Oph cloud core
- Short Name:
- J/ApJ/719/550
- Date:
- 21 Oct 2021
- Publisher:
- CDS
- Description:
- A search for young substellar objects in the {rho} Oph cloud core region has been made with the aid of multiband profile-fitting point-source photometry of the deep-integration Combined Calibration Scan images of the 2MASS extended mission in the J, H, and Ks bands, and Spitzer IRAC images at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8, and 8.0um. The field of view of the combined observations was 1{deg}x9.3', and the 5{sigma} limiting magnitude at J was 20.5. Comparison of the observed spectral energy distributions with the predictions of the COND and DUSTY models, for an assumed age of 1Myr, supports the identification of many of the sources with brown dwarfs and enables the estimation of effective temperature, T_eff_. The cluster members are then readily distinguishable from background stars by their locations on a plot of flux density versus T_eff_. The range of estimated T_eff_ values extends down to ~750K which, based on the COND model, would suggest the presence of objects of sub-Jupiter mass. The results also suggest that the mass function for the {rho} Oph cloud resembles that of the {sigma} Orionis cluster based on a recent study, with both rising steadily toward lower masses. The other main result from our study is the apparent presence of a progressive blueward skew in the distribution of J-H and H-Ks colors, such that the blue end of the range becomes increasingly bluer with increasing magnitude. We suggest that this behavior might be understood in terms of the "ejected stellar embryo" hypothesis, whereby some of the lowest-mass brown dwarfs could escape to locations close to the front edge of the cloud, and thereby be seen with less extinction.
