Spectropolarimetric survey of hydrogen-rich white dwarf stars

A. Kawka; S. Vennes; G. D. Schmidt; D. T. Wickramasinghe; R. Koch

doi:10.1086/509072

Spectropolarimetric survey of hydrogen-rich white dwarf stars

A. Kawka^*, S. Vennes, G. D. Schmidt, D. T. Wickramasinghe, R. Koch

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

149 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310-688) that may have a weak magnetic field of -6.1 ±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have also analyzed the spectra of the white dwarfs to obtain effective temperatures and surface gravities.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	499-520
Number of pages	22
Journal	Astrophysical Journal
Volume	654
Issue number	1 I
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1086/509072
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2007

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10.1086/509072

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title = "Spectropolarimetric survey of hydrogen-rich white dwarf stars",

abstract = "We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310-688) that may have a weak magnetic field of -6.1 ±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have also analyzed the spectra of the white dwarfs to obtain effective temperatures and surface gravities.",

keywords = "Magnetic fields, White dwarfs",

author = "A. Kawka and S. Vennes and Schmidt, {G. D.} and Wickramasinghe, {D. T.} and R. Koch",

year = "2007",

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doi = "10.1086/509072",

language = "English",

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journal = "Astrophysical Journal",

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T1 - Spectropolarimetric survey of hydrogen-rich white dwarf stars

AU - Kawka, A.

AU - Vennes, S.

AU - Schmidt, G. D.

AU - Wickramasinghe, D. T.

AU - Koch, R.

PY - 2007/1/1

Y1 - 2007/1/1

N2 - We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310-688) that may have a weak magnetic field of -6.1 ±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have also analyzed the spectra of the white dwarfs to obtain effective temperatures and surface gravities.

AB - We have conducted a survey of 61 southern white dwarfs searching for magnetic fields using Zeeman spectropolarimetry. Our objective is to obtain a magnetic field distribution for these objects and, in particular, to find white dwarfs with weak fields. We found one possible candidate (WD 0310-688) that may have a weak magnetic field of -6.1 ±2.2 kG. Next, we determine the fraction and distribution of magnetic white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood and investigate the probability of finding more of these objects based on the current incidence of magnetism in white dwarfs within 20 pc of the Sun. We have also analyzed the spectra of the white dwarfs to obtain effective temperatures and surface gravities.

KW - Magnetic fields

KW - White dwarfs

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33846529417&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1086/509072

DO - 10.1086/509072

M3 - Review article

SN - 0004-637X

VL - 654

SP - 499

EP - 520

JO - Astrophysical Journal

JF - Astrophysical Journal

IS - 1 I

ER -

Spectropolarimetric survey of hydrogen-rich white dwarf stars

Abstract

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