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White dwarf planetary debris dependence on physical structure distributions within asteroid belts

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McDonald, Catriona H. and Veras, Dimitri (2021) White dwarf planetary debris dependence on physical structure distributions within asteroid belts. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 506 (3). pp. 4031-4047. doi:10.1093/mnras/stab1906 ISSN 1745-3933.

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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stab1906

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Abstract

White dwarfs which exhibit transit signatures of planetary debris and accreted planetary material provide exceptional opportunities to probe the material composition and dynamical structure of planetary systems. Although previous theoretical work investigating the role of minor body disruption around white dwarfs has focussed on spherical bodies, Solar System asteroids can be more accurately modelled as triaxial ellipsoids. Here we present an analytical framework to identify the type of disruption (tidal fragmentation, total sublimation or direct impact) experienced by triaxial asteroids approaching white dwarfs on extremely eccentric (e \sim 1) orbits. This framework is then used to identify the outcomes for simplified Main belt analogues of 100 bodies across five different white dwarf temperatures. We also present an empirical relationship between cooling age and effective temperature for both DA and DB white dwarfs to identify the age of the white dwarfs considered here. We find that using a purely spherical shape model can underestimate the physical size and radial distance at which an asteroid is subjected to complete sublimation, and these differences increase with greater elongation of the body. Contrastingly, fragmentation always occurs in the largest semi-axis of a body and so can be modelled by a sphere of that radius. Both fragmentation and sublimation are greatly affected by the body's material composition, and hence by the composition of their progenitor asteroid belts. The white dwarf temperature, and hence cooling age, can affect the expected debris distribution: higher temperatures sublimate large elongated asteroids, and cooler temperatures accommodate more direct impacts.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Q Science > QB Astronomy
Divisions: Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): White dwarf stars , Space debris , Interstellar matter , Solar system , Asteroids
Journal or Publication Title: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISSN: 1745-3933
Official Date: September 2021
Dates:
DateEvent
September 2021Published
6 July 2021Available
30 June 2021Accepted
Volume: 506
Number: 3
Page Range: pp. 4031-4047
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stab1906
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record [insert complete citation information here] is available online at: xxxxxxx [insert URL and DOI of the article on the OUP website].
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access
Date of first compliant deposit: 6 July 2021
Date of first compliant Open Access: 7 July 2021
RIOXX Funder/Project Grant:
Project/Grant IDRIOXX Funder NameFunder ID
ST/P003850/1[STFC] Science and Technology Facilities Councilhttp://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000271
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