Simultaneous infrared and optical observations of the transiting debris cloud around WD 1145+017

G. Zhou*, L. Kedziora-Chudczer, J. Bailey, J. P. Marshall, D. D.R. Bayliss, C. Stockdale, P. Nelson, T. G. Tan, J. E. Rodriguez, C. G. Tinney, D. Dragomir, K. Colon, A. Shporer, J. Bento, R. Sefako, K. Horne, W. Cochran

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    29 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    We present multiwavelength photometric monitoring of WD 1145+017, a white dwarf exhibiting periodic dimming events interpreted to be the transits of orbiting, disintegrating planetesimals. Our observations include the first set of near-infrared light curves for the object, obtained on multiple nights over the span of 1 month, and recorded multiple transit events with depths varying between ~20 and 50 per cent. Simultaneous near-infrared and optical observations of the deepest and longest duration transit event were obtained on two epochs with the Anglo-Australian Telescope and three optical facilities, over the wavelength range of 0.5-1.2 μm. These observations revealed no measurable difference in transit depths for multiple photometric pass bands, allowing us to place a 2σ lower limit of 0.8 μm on the grain size in the putative transiting debris cloud. This conclusion is consistent with the spectral energy distribution of the system, which can be fit with an optically thin debris disc with minimum particle sizes of 10-3+5 μm.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)4422-4432
    Number of pages11
    JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
    Volume463
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 21 Dec 2016

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