White Dwarfs in the Galaxy

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

Scientific paper

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Scientific paper

Studies of white dwarf stars contribute to our understanding of star formation and evolution in our Galaxy. We are exploring the properties of a distant white dwarf population in the Galactic disk (V >18) uncovered in the 2dF Quasar Redshift Survey (2QZ). We complemented the original 2QZ spectra obtained at the Anglo Australian Telescope with optical (Sloan) and ultraviolet (GALEX) data. Based on a model atmosphere analysis, we determine detailed parameters (effective temperature, surface gravity and composition) for nearly 1,000 catalogued stars. The selected white dwarfs are relatively young, owing to the blueand UV-excess selection criteria, and belong to a thin-disk population. Their effective temperatures exceed 10,000K corresponding to cooling ages below 1 Gyr. Based on these data, we present a study of the white dwarf luminosity function and Galactic scale-height distribution using various absolute luminosity indicators, and explore the relative luminosity functions of hydrogen-rich (DA) and non-DA white dwarfs. We also discuss the properties of peculiar objects (low-mass, magnetic, high-mass white dwarfs) and examine the incidence of late-type companionship to white dwarfs. This research is supported by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (205/05/P186) and by a NASA/GALEX grant NNG05GL42G, and by the College of Science at the Florida Institute of Technology.

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