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A magnetic white dwarf in a detached eclipsing binary
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Parsons, S. G., Marsh, Tom, Gänsicke, B. T. (Boris T.), Schreiber, M. R., Bours, Madelon C. P., Dhillon, V. S. and Littlefair, S. P. (2013) A magnetic white dwarf in a detached eclipsing binary. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 436 (Number 1). pp. 241-252. doi:10.1093/mnras/stt1588
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stt1588
Abstract
SDSS J030308.35+005444.1 is a close, detached, eclipsing white dwarf plus M dwarf binary which shows a large infrared excess which has been interpreted in terms of a circumbinary dust disc. In this paper, we present optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic data for this system. At optical wavelengths, we observe heated pole caps from the white dwarf caused by accretion of wind material from the main-sequence star on to the white dwarf. At near-infrared wavelengths, we see the eclipse of two poles on the surface of the white dwarf by the main-sequence star indicating that the white dwarf is magnetic. Our spectroscopic observations reveal Zeeman-split emission lines in the hydrogen Balmer series, which we use to measure the magnetic field strength as 8 MG. This measurement indicates that the cyclotron lines are located in the infrared, naturally explaining the infrared excess without the need for a circumbinary dust disc. We also detect magnetically confined material located roughly midway between the two stars. Using measurements of the radial velocity amplitude and rotational broadening of the M star, we constrain the physical parameters of the system, a first for a magnetic white dwarf, and the location of the poles on the surface of the white dwarf. SDSS J030308.35+005444.1 is a pre-cataclysmic variable that will likely evolve into an intermediate polar in ∼1 Gyr.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subjects: | Q Science > QB Astronomy | ||||
| Divisions: | Faculty of Science > Physics | ||||
| Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): | White dwarf stars, Eclipsing binaries, Solar magnetic fields | ||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society | ||||
| Publisher: | Oxford University Press | ||||
| ISSN: | 0035-8711 | ||||
| Official Date: | 21 November 2013 | ||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Volume 436 | ||||
| Number: | Number 1 | ||||
| Number of Pages: | 12 | ||||
| Page Range: | pp. 241-252 | ||||
| DOI: | 10.1093/mnras/stt1588 | ||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access | ||||
| Funder: | European Southern Observatory (ESO), Science and Technology Facilities Council (Great Britain) (STFC), European Research Council (ERC), Fondo Nacional de Desarrollo Científico y Tecnológico (Chile) (FONDECYT), Millennium Science Initiative, Chile. Ministerio de Economía, Fomento y Reconstrucción | ||||
| Grant number: | 267697 (ERC), 1100782 (FONDECYT), Nucleus P10-022-F |
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