Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-01-08
Astrophys.J.694:805-819,2009
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
47 pages, accepted to ApJ
Scientific paper
10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/805
Spitzer Space Observatory IRAC and MIPS photometric observations are presented for 20 white dwarfs with T < 20,000 K and metal-contaminated photospheres. A warm circumstellar disk is detected at GD 16 and likely at PG 1457-086, while the remaining targets fail to reveal mid-infrared excess typical of dust disks, including a number of heavily polluted stars. Extending previous studies, over 50% of all single white dwarfs with implied metal accretion rates dM/dt > 3e8 g/s display a warm infrared excess from orbiting dust; the likely result of a tidally-destroyed minor planet. This benchmark accretion rate lies between the dust production rates of 1e6 g/s in the solar system zodiacal cloud and 1e10 g/s often inferred for debris disks at main sequence A-type stars. It is estimated that between 1% and 3% of all single white dwarfs with cooling ages less than around 0.5 Gyr possess circumstellar dust, signifying an underlying population of minor planets.
Farihi Jay
Jura Michael
Zuckerman Ben
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