The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs

<i>Context.</i> Extremely low-mass white dwarf (ELM WD; M⁎ ≲ 0.18-0.20 M⊙) stars are thought to be formed in binary systems via stable or unstable mass transfer. Although stable mass transfer predicts the formation of ELM WDs with thick hydrogen (H) envelopes that are characterized by do...

Descripción completa

Guardado en:
Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena, Althaus, Leandro Gabriel, Córsico, Alejandro Hugo
Formato: Articulo
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/93860
https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732551
https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/82883
Aporte de:
id I19-R120-10915-93860
record_format dspace
institution Universidad Nacional de La Plata
institution_str I-19
repository_str R-120
collection SEDICI (UNLP)
language Inglés
topic Astronomía
stars: evolution
stars: interiors
stars: individual: ELM WD
white dwarfs
spellingShingle Astronomía
stars: evolution
stars: interiors
stars: individual: ELM WD
white dwarfs
Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Córsico, Alejandro Hugo
The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
topic_facet Astronomía
stars: evolution
stars: interiors
stars: individual: ELM WD
white dwarfs
description <i>Context.</i> Extremely low-mass white dwarf (ELM WD; M⁎ ≲ 0.18-0.20 M⊙) stars are thought to be formed in binary systems via stable or unstable mass transfer. Although stable mass transfer predicts the formation of ELM WDs with thick hydrogen (H) envelopes that are characterized by dominant residual nuclear burning along the cooling branch, the formation of ELM WDs with thinner H envelopes from unstable mass loss cannot be discarded. <i>Aims.</i> We compute new evolutionary sequences for helium (He) core WD stars with thin H envelopes with the main aim of assessing the lowest T<sub>eff</sub> that could be reached by this type of stars. <i>Methods.</i> We generate a new grid of evolutionary sequences of He-core WD stars with thin H envelopes in the mass range from 0.1554 to 0.2025 M⊙, and assess the changes in both the cooling times and surface gravity induced by a reduction of the H envelope. We also determine, taking into account the predictions of progenitor evolution, the lowest T<sub>eff</sub> reached by the resulting ELM WDs. <i>Results.</i> We find that a slight reduction in the H envelope yields a significant increase in the cooling rate of ELM WDs. Because of this, ELM WDs with thin H envelopes could cool down to ∼2500 K, in contrast to their canonical counterparts that cool down to ∼7000 K. In addition, we find that a reduction of the thickness of the H envelope markedly increases the surface gravity (g) of these stars. <i>Conclusions.</i> If ELM WDs are formed with thin H envelopes, they could be detected at very low T<sub>eff</sub>. The detection of such cool ELM WDs would be indicative that they were formed with thin H envelopes, thus opening the possibility of placing constraints on the possible mechanisms of formation of this type of star. Last but not least, the increase in g due to the reduction of the H envelope leads to consequences in the spectroscopic determinations of these stars.
format Articulo
Articulo
author Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Córsico, Alejandro Hugo
author_facet Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena
Althaus, Leandro Gabriel
Córsico, Alejandro Hugo
author_sort Calcaferro, Leila Magdalena
title The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
title_short The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
title_full The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
title_fullStr The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
title_full_unstemmed The coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
title_sort coolest extremely low-mass white dwarfs
publishDate 2018
url http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/93860
https://www.aanda.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201732551
https://ri.conicet.gov.ar/handle/11336/82883
work_keys_str_mv AT calcaferroleilamagdalena thecoolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
AT althausleandrogabriel thecoolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
AT corsicoalejandrohugo thecoolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
AT calcaferroleilamagdalena coolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
AT althausleandrogabriel coolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
AT corsicoalejandrohugo coolestextremelylowmasswhitedwarfs
bdutipo_str Repositorios
_version_ 1764820491856510977