Dynamical Masses and Radii of Four White Dwarf Stars

Computer Science

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Hst Proposal Id #9881 Hot Stars

Scientific paper

The cool white dwarf stars WD1639+153 and WD1818+126 were recently resolved by HST FGS1r to be double degenerate binary systems with projected separations of 112 mas and 174 mas respectively. At a distance of less than 50 pc they may both have periods shorter than about 20 years, making them ideal candidates for follow up studies for dynamical mass determinations. This will increase the number of white dwarfs with dynamical mass measurements from the current 4 up to 8. Continued observations of these white dwarfs along with nearby field stars with the FGS will accuractely determine the orbital elements and parallax of each system. The mass and radius of all four white dwarfs can be determined to an unprecedented 1%, making it possible to test and calibrate the theoretical white dwarf mass radius relation at the cool end of the cooling curve for the DA and DC subclasses. Since the components of the binary are coeval, once the mass and radius, and hence the cooling age of each star is known, it will be possible to estimate the relation between the initial mass and final mass for all four white dwarfs. We are requesting a total of 4 HST orbits per year for the next three cycles to initiate the process that will result in a determination of the mass and radius of the four white dwarfs.

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