Research Division Seminar
IAU G5 seminar: " How White Dwarfs Get Their Metals"

Dr. Scott Kenyon

Abstract

 

Many (perhaps most) nearby white dwarfs have strong 
absorption lines from Ca, Si, Mg, Al, and other metals 
on optical and ultraviolet spectra. Abundance analyses 
suggest the ensemble of metals has a composition similar 
to asteroids or the cores of rocky planets. The atmospheric
diffusion times are much smaller than their ages. Thus, the 
metals must be continually replenished.  I will describe 
observations of these systems and outline an evolutionary 
path that allows material from an erstwhile planetary system
to end up on the surface of the white dwarf remnant of an
A-type main sequence star.

About the talk

IAU G5 seminar: " How White Dwarfs Get Their Metals"
Dr. Scott Kenyon
CfA / Harvard & Smithsonian
Tuesday March 21, 2023 - 17:00 GMT  (Online)
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