Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters

Richer HB, Caiazzo I, Du H, Grondin S, Hegarty J, Heyl J, Kerr R, Miller DR, Thiele S. 2021. Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters. The Astrophysical Journal. 912(2), 165.

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Richer, Harvey B.; Caiazzo, IlariaISTA ; Du, Helen; Grondin, Steffani; Hegarty, James; Heyl, Jeremy; Kerr, Ronan; Miller, David R.; Thiele, Sarah
Abstract
We have carried out a search for massive white dwarfs (WDs) in the direction of young open star clusters using the Gaia DR2 database. The aim of this survey was (1) to provide robust data for new and previously known high-mass WDs regarding cluster membership, (2) to highlight WDs previously included in the initial final mass relation (IFMR) that are unlikely members of their respective clusters according to Gaia astrometry, and (3) to select an unequivocal WD sample that could then be compared with the host clusters' turnoff masses. All promising WD candidates in each cluster color–magnitude diagram were followed up with spectroscopy from Gemini in order to determine whether they were indeed WDs and derive their masses, temperatures, and ages. In order to be considered cluster members, white dwarfs were required to (1) have proper motions and parallaxes within 2σ, 3σ, or 4σ of those of their potential parent cluster based on how contaminated the field was in their region of the sky, (2) have a cooling age that was less than the cluster age, and (3) have a mass that was broadly consistent with the IFMR. A number of WDs included in current versions of the IFMR turned out to be nonmembers, and a number of apparent members, based on Gaia's astrometric data alone, were rejected, as their mass and/or cooling times were incompatible with cluster membership. In this way, we developed a highly selected IFMR sample for high-mass WDs that, surprisingly, contained no precursor masses significantly in excess of ∼ 6 M⊙.
Publishing Year
Date Published
2021-05-17
Journal Title
The Astrophysical Journal
Volume
912
Issue
2
Article Number
165
ISSN
eISSN
IST-REx-ID

Cite this

Richer HB, Caiazzo I, Du H, et al. Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters. The Astrophysical Journal. 2021;912(2). doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abdeb7
Richer, H. B., Caiazzo, I., Du, H., Grondin, S., Hegarty, J., Heyl, J., … Thiele, S. (2021). Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters. The Astrophysical Journal. American Astronomical Society. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abdeb7
Richer, Harvey B., Ilaria Caiazzo, Helen Du, Steffani Grondin, James Hegarty, Jeremy Heyl, Ronan Kerr, David R. Miller, and Sarah Thiele. “Massive White Dwarfs in Young Star Clusters.” The Astrophysical Journal. American Astronomical Society, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/abdeb7.
H. B. Richer et al., “Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters,” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 912, no. 2. American Astronomical Society, 2021.
Richer HB, Caiazzo I, Du H, Grondin S, Hegarty J, Heyl J, Kerr R, Miller DR, Thiele S. 2021. Massive white dwarfs in young star clusters. The Astrophysical Journal. 912(2), 165.
Richer, Harvey B., et al. “Massive White Dwarfs in Young Star Clusters.” The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 912, no. 2, 165, American Astronomical Society, 2021, doi:10.3847/1538-4357/abdeb7.
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