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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Series

2009

Publications

Stars: evolution

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Survey Of Cool White Dwarfs In The Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Mukremin Kilic, Piotr M. Kowalski, Ted Von Hippel Jul 2009

A Near-Infrared Spectroscopic Survey Of Cool White Dwarfs In The Sloan Digital Sky Survey, Mukremin Kilic, Piotr M. Kowalski, Ted Von Hippel

Publications

We present near-infrared photometric observations of 15 and spectroscopic observations of 38 cool white dwarfs (WDs). This is the largest near-infrared spectroscopic survey of cool WDs to date. Combining the Sloan Digital Sky Survey photometry and our near-infrared data, we perform a detailed model atmosphere analysis. The spectral energy distributions of our objects are explained fairly well by model atmospheres with temperatures ranging from 6300 K down to 4200 K. Two WDs show significant absorption in the infrared, and are best explained with mixed H/He atmosphere models. Based on the up-to-date model atmosphere calculations by Kowalski & Saumon, we find …


Inverting Color–Magnitude Diagrams To Access Precise Star Cluster Parameters: A New White Dwarf Age For The Hyades, Steven Degennaro, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al. May 2009

Inverting Color–Magnitude Diagrams To Access Precise Star Cluster Parameters: A New White Dwarf Age For The Hyades, Steven Degennaro, Ted Von Hippel, Et Al.

Publications

We have extended our Bayesian modeling of stellar clusters—which uses main-sequence stellar evolution models, a mapping between initial masses and white dwarf (WD) masses, WD cooling models, and WD atmospheres—to include binary stars, field stars, and two additional main-sequence stellar evolution models. As a critical test of our Bayesian modeling technique, we apply it to Hyades UBV photometry, with membership priors based on proper motions and radial velocities, where available. Under the assumption of a particular set of WD cooling models and atmosphere models, we estimate the age of the Hyades based on cooling WDs to be 648 ± 45 …