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A white dwarf accreting planetary material determined from X-ray observations
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Cunningham, T. J., Wheatley, Peter J., Tremblay, Pier-Emmanuel, Gaensicke, B. T., King, George W., Toloza, Odette and Veras, Dimitri (2022) A white dwarf accreting planetary material determined from X-ray observations. Nature, 602 (7896). pp. 219-222. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-04300-w ISSN 0028-0836.
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Official URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04300-w
Abstract
The atmospheres of a large proportion of white dwarf stars are polluted by heavy elements that are expected to sink out of visible layers on short timescales. This has been interpreted as a signature of ongoing accretion of debris from asteroids, comets and giant planets. This scenario is supported by the detection of debris discs and transits of planetary fragments around some white dwarfs. However, photospheric metals are only indirect evidence for ongoing accretion, and the inferred accretion rates and parent body compositions heavily depend on models of diffusion and mixing processes within the white dwarf atmosphere. Here we report a 4.4σ detection of X-rays from a polluted white dwarf, G29–38. From the measured X-ray luminosity, we derive an instantaneous accretion rate of M˙X=1.63+1.29−0.40×109gs−1M˙X=1.63−0.40+1.29×109gs−1, which is independent of stellar atmosphere models. This rate is higher than estimates from past studies of the photospheric abundances of G29–38, suggesting that convective overshoot may be needed to model the spectra of debris-accreting white dwarfs. We measure a low plasma temperature of kBT = 0.5 ± 0.2 keV, corroborating the predicted bombardment solution for white dwarfs accreting at low accretion rates.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science, Engineering and Medicine > Science > Physics | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| SWORD Depositor: | Library Publications Router | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | White dwarf stars, Solar atmosphere, Space debris | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Nature | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publisher: | Nature Publishing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ISSN: | 0028-0836 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Official Date: | 10 February 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | 602 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number: | 7896 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 219-222 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| DOI: | 10.1038/s41586-021-04300-w | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reuse Statement (publisher, data, author rights): | This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04300-w. Use of this Accepted Version is subject to the publisher’s Accepted Manuscript terms of use https://www.springernature.com/gp/open-research/policies/acceptedmanuscript-terms. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of first compliant deposit: | 25 March 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of first compliant Open Access: | 10 August 2022 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| RIOXX Funder/Project Grant: |
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