Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2009-05-12
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
10 pages, 10 figures, 1 table. To be published in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Motivated by the recent detection of single and binary He-core white dwarfs in metal-rich clusters, we present a full set of evolutionary calculations and colors appropriate for the study of such white dwarfs. The paper is also aimed at investigating whether stable hydrogen burning may constitute a main source of energy for massive He-core white dwarfs resulting from high-metallicity progenitors. White dwarf sequences are derived by taking into account the evolutionary history of progenitor stars with supersolar metallicities. We also incorporate a self-consistent, time-dependent treatment of gravitational settling and chemical diffusion, as well as of the residual nuclear burning. We find that the influence of residual nuclear burning during the late stages of white dwarf evolution is strongly dependent on the occurrence of chemical diffusion at the base of the hydrogen-rich envelope. When no diffusion is considered, residual hydrogen burning strongly influences the advanced stages of white dwarf cooling, introducing evolutionary delays of several Gyr. By contrast, when diffusion is taken into account the role of residual nuclear burning is strongly mitigated, and the evolution is dictated only by the thermal content stored in the ions. In addition, for all of our sequences, we provide accurate color and magnitudes on the basis of new and improved non gray model atmospheres which explicitly include Ly$\alpha$ quasi-molecular opacity.
Althaus Leandro G.
Corsico Alejandro Hugo
Garcia-Berro Enrique
Miller Bertolami Marcelo M.
Panei Jorge A.
No associations
LandOfFree
Evolution and colors of helium-core white dwarf stars with high-metallicity progenitors does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Evolution and colors of helium-core white dwarf stars with high-metallicity progenitors, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Evolution and colors of helium-core white dwarf stars with high-metallicity progenitors will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-337821