Brown dwarf companions to white dwarfs

Matt R. Burleigh, Paul R. Steele, Paul D. Dobbie, Jay Farihi, Ralf Napiwotzki, Pierre F. L. Maxted, Martin A. Barstow, Richard F. Jameson, Sarah L. Casewell, Boris T. Gaensicke, Tom R. Marsh

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

10 Citations (Scopus)
47 Downloads (Pure)

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 languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPlanetary systems beyond the main sequence
EditorsS Schuh, H Drechsel, U Heber
Place of PublicationMeville
PublisherAmerican Institute of Physics (AIP)
Pages262-270
Number of pages9
ISBN (Print)978-0-7354-0886-9
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2011

Keywords

  • White Dwarfs
  • Brown Dwarfs
  • Binaries

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