Non-radial pulsations have been identified in a number of accreting white dwarfs in cataclysmic variables. These stars offer insight into the excitation of pulsation modes in atmospheres with mixed compositions of hydrogen, helium, and metals, and the response of these modes to changes in the white dwarf temperature. Among all pulsating cataclysmic variable white dwarfs, GW Librae stands out by having a well-established observational record of three independent pulsation modes that disappeared when the white dwarf temperature rose dramatically following its 2007 accretion outburst. Our analysis of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) ultraviolet spectroscopy taken in 2002, 2010, and 2011, showed that pulsations produce variations in the white dwarf effective temperature as predicted by theory. Additionally in 2013 May, we obtained new HST/Cosmic Origin Spectrograph ultraviolet observations that displayed unexpected behaviour: besides showing variability at a parts per thousand integral 275 s, which is close to the post-outburst pulsations detected with HST in 2010 and 2011, the white dwarf exhibits high-amplitude variability on an a parts per thousand integral 4.4 h time-scale. We demonstrate that this variability is produced by an increase of the temperature of a region on white dwarf covering up to a parts per thousand integral 30 per cent of the visible white dwarf surface. We argue against a short-lived accretion episode as the explanation of such heating, and discuss this event in the context of non-radial pulsations on a rapidly rotating star.

The T-eff = 20 800 K white dwarf WD 1536+520 is shown to have broadly solar abundances of the major rock-forming elements O, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, and Fe, together with a strong relative depletion in the volatile elements C and S. In addition to the highest metal abundances observed to date, including log (O/He) = -3.4, the helium-dominated atmosphere has an exceptional hydrogen abundance at log (H/He) = -1.7. Within the uncertainties, the metal-to-metal ratios are consistent with the accretion of an H2O-rich and rocky parent body, an interpretation supported by the anomalously high trace hydrogen. The mixed atmosphere yields unusually short diffusion time-scales for a helium atmosphere white dwarf, of no more than a few hundred years, and equivalent to those in a much cooler, hydrogen-rich star. The overall heavy element abundances of the disrupted parent body deviate modestly from a bulk Earth pattern, and suggest the deposition of some core-like material. The total inferred accretion rate is 4.2 x 10(9) g s(-1), and at least four times higher than for any white dwarf with a comparable diffusion time-scale. Notably, when accretion is exhausted in this system, both metals and hydrogen will become undetectable within roughly 300 Myr, thus supporting a scenario where the trace hydrogen is related to the ongoing accretion of planetary debris.

We present a spectral analysis of the spectrum from the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (HST/COS) of the southern VY Scl nova-like variable BB Doradus, obtained as part of a Cycle 20 HST/COS survey of accreting white dwarfs (WDs) in cataclysmic variables. BB Dor was observed with COS during an intermediate state with a low mass accretion rate, thereby allowing an estimate of the WD temperature. The results of our spectral analysis show that the WD is a significant far-ultraviolet (FUV) component of the spectrum with a temperature of about 35,000-50,000 K, assuming a WD mass of 0.80 M-circle dot (log(g) = 8.4). The disk, with a mass accretion rate of approximate to 10(-10) M-circle dot yr(-1), contributes about 1/5 to 1/2 of the FUV flux.

We present a detailed search and analysis of chemically stratified hybrid (traces of helium and hydrogen) white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Only one stratified white dwarf, PG 1305-017, was known prior to this analysis. The main objective is to confirm the existence of several new stratified objects. We first describe our new generation of stratified model atmospheres, where a thin hydrogen layer floats in diffusive equilibrium on top of a more massive helium layer. We then present the results of our search for hot (T-eff > 30,000 K) white dwarfs with a hybrid spectral type among the similar to 38,000 white dwarf spectra listed in the SDSS. A total of 51 spectra were retained in our final sample, which we analyze using spectroscopic fits to both chemically homogeneous and stratified model atmospheres. We identify 14 new stratified white dwarfs in the SDSS sample. From these results, we draw several conclusions regarding the physical processes that might explain the presence of helium in the atmospheres of all the stars in our sample.

No description available.

The R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are an enigmatic class of hydrogen-deficient supergiant stars, which along with the companion classes of Hydrogen-deficient Carbon (HdC) stars and Extreme Helium (EHe) stars, have been touted as being a result of mergers of low mass carbon-oxygen (CO) and helium (He) white dwarfs. Such mergers of white dwarfs are expected to be the genesis of several interesting stellar objects such as Type Ia supernovae, neutron stars and AM CVn stars, amongst others. The RCBs, HdCs and EHes are mostly near-solar mass single stars, which along with having predominantly helium atmospheres that are extremely exhausted in hydrogen and rich in carbon, are also host to some extraordinary nuclear isotopic ratios. The RCBs and EHes have 12C/13C >= 100, enhancements of up to 3 orders in fluorine compared to solar and significant amounts of s-process elements. The most outstanding characteristic of RCBs is that they, along with the HdCs, have the lowest O-isotopic ratios measured in any star in the Universe viz., 16O/18O ~ 1-10. We perform nucleosynthesis calculations with conditions found in the three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of CO and He WD mergers and compare the nuclear yields thus obtained with those measured in the surfaces of RCB stars. We do not find an agreement between the calculated yields and the measured ones and thus conclude that RCBs are not formed immediately after the merger of the white dwarfs. This leads us to surmise that the surface chemical composition of RCBs may be due to the result of nuclear processes occuring in a longer evolutionary period following the merger. To this end, we first construct chemical compositions of the merged white dwarfs based on the results of the hydrodynamic simulations. We then impose these compositions on homogeneous, spherically symmetric, one-dimensional stellar models and evolve these models through the giant phase of RCBs. Along with convection zones that develop in the stellar envelope, we induce a continuous envelope mixing profile that is meant to represent processes related to rotation in these merged objects. We then analyse the nuclear yields from the surface of these models and compare them with those of RCBs. Our models achieve the aforementioned striking characteristics of RCBs, viz., the low O-isotopic ratios, high C-isotopic ratios, high fluorine and s-process element enhancments. Along with these, for the first time, we have reproduced simultaneously, the range in observations of almost all the other elements measured in RCBs. Moreover, our one-dimensional models also place useful constraints on so far unexplored three-dimensional processes, thus providing directives for future studies about them. / Graduate

Estrelas anãs brancas são o último estágio evolutivo observável de mais de 95% das estrelas e também um resultado comum na evolução de estrelas binárias. O estudo de anãs brancas é, portanto, uma ferramenta poderosa na compreensão da evolução de estrelas simples e binárias, da função de massa inicial local, e da perda de massa após a sequência principal, levando-nos a uma melhor compreensão do histórico de formação e evolução estelar de diferentes populações. Para que esses estudos sejam possíveis, é necessária uma amostra grande e preferencialmente completa de anãs brancas, cobrindo todo o intervalo de parâmetros físicos. A maneira mais simples de obter isso é utilizando dados de grandes projetos de mapeamento. O Sloan Digital Sky Survey já permitiu o aumento do número de anãs brancas conhecidas em cinco vezes até o data release 10. Neste trabalho, estendemos a busca por anãs brancas aos novos objetos no data release 12, descobrindo 3 157 novas anãs brancas e 1 349 novas subanãs. Pela primeira vez, estendemos essa busca para log g < 6.5, correspondente a M < 0.3 M⊙. Anãs brancas abaixo desse limite de massa não podem formar-se em um tempo de Hubble; contudo, se a estrela é parte de um sistema de binárias próximas, a perda de massa pode ser tão intensa que a anã branca resultante tem massa inferior ao limite por evolução simples. Esses objetos são chamados anãs brancas de massa extremamente-baixa (ELMs, do inglês extremely-low mass white dwarfs) Elas têm Teff < 20 000 K e 5.0 . log g . 6.5 e espectros muito similares a estrelas A de sequência principal. Menos de cem são conhecidas, e a maioria dos objetos foi descoberta tendo em conta um critério de seleção tendencioso, que excluiu ELMs frias (Teff < 9 000 K) e com mais baixa massa (M . 0.15 M⊙), tornando difícil verificar modelos e compreender as propriedades das ELMs como classe. Nós identificamos milhares de objetos cujas propriedades físicas, temperatura efetiva e log g, estão no intervalo de produtos de evolução binária, como as ELMs. Nós os chamamos de sdAs, referindo-nos ao seu log g que as coloca abaixo da sequência principal e seu espectro dominado por hidrogênio. As sdAs parecem conter populações estelares sobrepostas, e encontramos que 7% são mais compatíveis com (pre-)ELMs do que com objetos de sequência principal. Obtivemos espectroscopia resolvida temporalmente para 26 objetos e pudemos confirmar que 15 estão em binárias. Um objeto faz parte de um sistema eclipsante, enquanto outro é pulsante — o oitavo membro da classe de ELMs pulsantes. Outros seis objetos também apresentaram pulsações em nossas observações, cinco desses estão na vizinhança da faixa de instabilidade das ELMs. Com estes resultados, aumentamos a população de ELMs por um fator de 20%, elevando a fração de ELMs de 4 para 20%, um valor que é consistente com as previsões de modelos evolucionários. / White dwarf stars are the final observable evolutionary state of over 95% of stars and also a common outcome in binary evolution. Therefore, studying white dwarfs is a powerful tool to understand both single and binary stellar evolution, local initial mass function, and post-main sequence mass loss, leading us to a better comprehension of the history of stellar formation and evolution of different stellar populations. In order to make this type of studies possible, a large and preferably complete sample of white dwarf stars, covering the whole range of physical parameters, is required. The simplest way to achieve that is to take advantage of data provided by large surveys. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has already allowed the increase of the number of known white dwarf stars fivefold up to its data release 10. In this work, we extended the search for white dwarfs to the new objects in the data release 12, discovering 3 157 new white dwarfs and 1 349 new subdwarfs. For the first time, we have extended this search to log g < 6.5, corresponding to M < 0.3 M⊙. White dwarfs below this mass limit cannot be formed through single evolution within a Hubble time; however, if the star is part of a close binary system, the mass loss of the system may be so intense that the resulting white dwarf has mass below the single evolution limit. These objects are known as extremely-low mass white dwarfs (ELMs) They show Teff < 20 000 K and 5.0 . log g . 6.5 and spectra very similar to main sequence A stars. Less than a hundred of them are known, and most objects were discovered relying on biased selection criteria, that excluded cool (Teff < 9 000 K), lowermass (M . 0.15 M⊙) ELMs, making it difficult to validate the models and comprehend the properties of the ELMs as a class. We have identified thousands of objects whose physical properties, effective temperature and surface gravity, place them in the range of by-products of binary interaction such as the ELMs. We have called them sdAs, referring to their sub-main sequence log g and hydrogen dominated spectra. They seem to be composed of overlapping stellar populations, and we found that at least 7% are more likely ELMs or their precursors, the pre-ELMs, than main sequence stars. Obtaining time-resolved spectroscopy for 26 objects, we could confirm 15 to be in close binaries. One of them is also an eclipsing system, while another is a pulsator — the eighth member of the pulsating ELM class. Other six new pulsators were found as part of our follow-up, five of them in the vicinity of the ELM instability strip. With these results, we increase the population of ELMs by 20%, raising the fraction of cool ELMs from 4 to 20%, which is consistent with the predictions from the evolutionary models.

Estrelas anãs brancas são o último estágio evolutivo observável de mais de 95% das estrelas e também um resultado comum na evolução de estrelas binárias. O estudo de anãs brancas é, portanto, uma ferramenta poderosa na compreensão da evolução de estrelas simples e binárias, da função de massa inicial local, e da perda de massa após a sequência principal, levando-nos a uma melhor compreensão do histórico de formação e evolução estelar de diferentes populações. Para que esses estudos sejam possíveis, é necessária uma amostra grande e preferencialmente completa de anãs brancas, cobrindo todo o intervalo de parâmetros físicos. A maneira mais simples de obter isso é utilizando dados de grandes projetos de mapeamento. O Sloan Digital Sky Survey já permitiu o aumento do número de anãs brancas conhecidas em cinco vezes até o data release 10. Neste trabalho, estendemos a busca por anãs brancas aos novos objetos no data release 12, descobrindo 3 157 novas anãs brancas e 1 349 novas subanãs. Pela primeira vez, estendemos essa busca para log g < 6.5, correspondente a M < 0.3 M⊙. Anãs brancas abaixo desse limite de massa não podem formar-se em um tempo de Hubble; contudo, se a estrela é parte de um sistema de binárias próximas, a perda de massa pode ser tão intensa que a anã branca resultante tem massa inferior ao limite por evolução simples. Esses objetos são chamados anãs brancas de massa extremamente-baixa (ELMs, do inglês extremely-low mass white dwarfs) Elas têm Teff < 20 000 K e 5.0 . log g . 6.5 e espectros muito similares a estrelas A de sequência principal. Menos de cem são conhecidas, e a maioria dos objetos foi descoberta tendo em conta um critério de seleção tendencioso, que excluiu ELMs frias (Teff < 9 000 K) e com mais baixa massa (M . 0.15 M⊙), tornando difícil verificar modelos e compreender as propriedades das ELMs como classe. Nós identificamos milhares de objetos cujas propriedades físicas, temperatura efetiva e log g, estão no intervalo de produtos de evolução binária, como as ELMs. Nós os chamamos de sdAs, referindo-nos ao seu log g que as coloca abaixo da sequência principal e seu espectro dominado por hidrogênio. As sdAs parecem conter populações estelares sobrepostas, e encontramos que 7% são mais compatíveis com (pre-)ELMs do que com objetos de sequência principal. Obtivemos espectroscopia resolvida temporalmente para 26 objetos e pudemos confirmar que 15 estão em binárias. Um objeto faz parte de um sistema eclipsante, enquanto outro é pulsante — o oitavo membro da classe de ELMs pulsantes. Outros seis objetos também apresentaram pulsações em nossas observações, cinco desses estão na vizinhança da faixa de instabilidade das ELMs. Com estes resultados, aumentamos a população de ELMs por um fator de 20%, elevando a fração de ELMs de 4 para 20%, um valor que é consistente com as previsões de modelos evolucionários. / White dwarf stars are the final observable evolutionary state of over 95% of stars and also a common outcome in binary evolution. Therefore, studying white dwarfs is a powerful tool to understand both single and binary stellar evolution, local initial mass function, and post-main sequence mass loss, leading us to a better comprehension of the history of stellar formation and evolution of different stellar populations. In order to make this type of studies possible, a large and preferably complete sample of white dwarf stars, covering the whole range of physical parameters, is required. The simplest way to achieve that is to take advantage of data provided by large surveys. The Sloan Digital Sky Survey has already allowed the increase of the number of known white dwarf stars fivefold up to its data release 10. In this work, we extended the search for white dwarfs to the new objects in the data release 12, discovering 3 157 new white dwarfs and 1 349 new subdwarfs. For the first time, we have extended this search to log g < 6.5, corresponding to M < 0.3 M⊙. White dwarfs below this mass limit cannot be formed through single evolution within a Hubble time; however, if the star is part of a close binary system, the mass loss of the system may be so intense that the resulting white dwarf has mass below the single evolution limit. These objects are known as extremely-low mass white dwarfs (ELMs) They show Teff < 20 000 K and 5.0 . log g . 6.5 and spectra very similar to main sequence A stars. Less than a hundred of them are known, and most objects were discovered relying on biased selection criteria, that excluded cool (Teff < 9 000 K), lowermass (M . 0.15 M⊙) ELMs, making it difficult to validate the models and comprehend the properties of the ELMs as a class. We have identified thousands of objects whose physical properties, effective temperature and surface gravity, place them in the range of by-products of binary interaction such as the ELMs. We have called them sdAs, referring to their sub-main sequence log g and hydrogen dominated spectra. They seem to be composed of overlapping stellar populations, and we found that at least 7% are more likely ELMs or their precursors, the pre-ELMs, than main sequence stars. Obtaining time-resolved spectroscopy for 26 objects, we could confirm 15 to be in close binaries. One of them is also an eclipsing system, while another is a pulsator — the eighth member of the pulsating ELM class. Other six new pulsators were found as part of our follow-up, five of them in the vicinity of the ELM instability strip. With these results, we increase the population of ELMs by 20%, raising the fraction of cool ELMs from 4 to 20%, which is consistent with the predictions from the evolutionary models.

In this work we present a grid of LTE and non-LTE synthetic spectra of hot DA white dwarfs (WDs). In addition to its usefulness for the determination of fundamental stellar parameters of isolated WDs and in binaries, this grid will be of interest for the construction of theoretical libraries for stellar studies from integrated light. The spectral grid covers both a wide temperature and gravity range, with 17,000 K <= T-eff <= 100,000 K and 7.0 <= log g <= 9.5. The stellar models are built for pure hydrogen and the spectra cover a wavelength range from 900 angstrom to 2.5 mu m. Additionally, we derive synthetic HST/ACS, HST/WFC3, Bessel UBVRI, and SDSS magnitudes. The grid was also used to model integrated spectral energy distributions of simple stellar populations and our modeling suggests that DAs might be detectable in ultraviolet bands for populations older than similar to 8 Gyr.

The first transiting planetesimal orbiting a white dwarf was recently detected in K2 data of WD 1145+017 and has been followed up intensively. The multiple, long and variable transits suggest the transiting objects are dust clouds, probably produced by a disintegrating asteroid. In addition, the system contains circumstellar gas, evident by broad absorption lines, mostly in the u' band, and a dust disc, indicated by an infrared excess. Here we present the first detection of a change in colour of WD 1145+017 during transits, using simultaneous multiband fast-photometry ULTRACAM measurements over the u'g'r'i' bands. The observations reveal what appears to be 'bluing' during transits; transits are deeper in the redder bands, with a u' - r' colour difference of up to similar to-0.05 mag. We explore various possible explanations for the bluing, including limb darkening or peculiar dust properties. 'Spectral' photometry obtained by integrating over bandpasses in the spectroscopic data in and out of transit, compared to the photometric data, shows that the observed colour difference is most likely the result of reduced circumstellar absorption in the spectrum during transits. This indicates that the transiting objects and the gas share the same line of sight and that the gas covers the white dwarf only partially, as would be expected if the gas, the transiting debris and the dust emitting the infrared excess are part of the same general disc structure (although possibly at different radii). In addition, we present the results of a week-long monitoring campaign of the system using a global network of telescopes.