Abstract
Brown dwarf companions to white dwarfs are rare, but recent infra-red surveys are slowly revealing examples. We present new observations of the post-common envelope binary WD0137-349, which reveals the effects of irradiation on the approximate to 0.05M(circle dot) secondary, and new observations of GD 1400 which show that it too is a close, post-common envelope system. We also present the latest results in a near-infrared photometric search for unresolved ultra-cool companions and to white dwarfs with UKIDSS. Twenty five DA white dwarfs were identified as having photometric excesses indicative of a low mass companion, with 8-10 of these having a predicted mass in the range associated with brown dwarfs. The results of this survey show that the unresolved (< 2 '') brown dwarf companion fraction to DA white dwarfs is 0.3 <= f(WD+BD) <= 1.3%.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Planetary systems beyond the main sequence |
Editors | S Schuh, H Drechsel, U Heber |
Place of Publication | Meville |
Publisher | American Institute of Physics (AIP) |
Pages | 262-270 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-0-7354-0886-9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2011 |
Keywords
- White Dwarfs
- Brown Dwarfs
- Binaries