Carbon Deficiency in Externally Polluted White Dwarfs: Evidence for Accretion of Asteroids

2006/09/01 by M. Jura · 10 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Accretion (finance) #Asteroid #Astro and Planetary Science #Astrobiology #Astronomy #Astrophysics #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Carbon fibers #Materials science #Physics #Solar System #Stars #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies #White dwarf #astro-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1086/508738

published as Astrophys.J.653:613-620,2006 · 23 pages, 6 figures, accepted for ApJ

arxiv created 2006/09/01 · openalex publication_date 2006/12/05 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

Existing determinations show that n (C)/ n (Fe) is more than a factor of 10 below solar in the atmospheres of three white dwarfs that appear to be externally polluted. These results are not easily explained if the stars have accreted interstellar matter, and we reinterpret these measurements as evidence that these stars have accreted asteroids with a chondritic composition.

Citations

• On the Final Destiny of the Earth and the Solar System
• The Primordial Excitation and Clearing of the Asteroid Belt
• Stabilization of the disk around β Pictoris by extremely carbon-rich gas
• Hidden Mass in the Asteroid Belt
• Solar System Abundances and Condensation Temperatures of the Elements
• The fossilized size distribution of the main asteroid belt
• Where Are the M Dwarf Disks Older Than 10 Million Years?

Cited by

• THE SOLAR NEBULA ON FIRE: A SOLUTION TO THE CARBON DEFICIT IN THE INNER SOLAR SYSTEM
• Infrared Emission from the Dusty Disk Orbiting GD 362, an Externally Polluted White Dwarf
• NEAR-INFRARED CONSTRAINTS ON THE PRESENCE OF WARM DUST AT METAL-RICH, HELIUM ATMOSPHERE WHITE DWARFS
• ABUNDANT CIRCUMSTELLAR SILICA DUST AND SiO GAS CREATED BY A GIANT HYPERVELOCITY COLLISION IN THE ∼12 MYR HD172555 SYSTEM
• Cool DZ white dwarfs in the SDSS
• Solar abundances of rock-forming elements, extreme oxygen and hydrogen in a young polluted white dwarf
• LIMITS ON UNRESOLVED PLANETARY COMPANIONS TO WHITE DWARF REMNANTS OF 14 INTERMEDIATE-MASS STARS
• The critical binary star separation for a planetary system origin of white dwarf pollution
• The magnetic and metallic degenerate G77-50
• CHEMICAL ABUNDANCES IN THE EXTERNALLY POLLUTED WHITE DWARF GD 40: EVIDENCE OF A ROCKY EXTRASOLAR MINOR PLANET