Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Selected Works

Stars: luminosity function

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Stars, Interstellar Medium and the Galaxy

The White Dwarf Luminosity Function From Sloan Digital Sky Survey Imaging Data, Hugh C. Harris, Jeffrey A. Munn, Mukremin Kilic, James W. Liebert, Kurtis A. Williams, Ted Von Hippel, Stephen E. Levine, David G. Monet, Daniel J. Eisenstein, S. J. Kleinman, T. S. Metcalfe, Atsuko Nikka, D. E. Winget, J. Brinkmann, Masataka Fukugita, G. R. Knapp, Robert H. Lupton, J. Allyn Smith, Donald P. Schneider Aug 2019

The White Dwarf Luminosity Function From Sloan Digital Sky Survey Imaging Data, Hugh C. Harris, Jeffrey A. Munn, Mukremin Kilic, James W. Liebert, Kurtis A. Williams, Ted Von Hippel, Stephen E. Levine, David G. Monet, Daniel J. Eisenstein, S. J. Kleinman, T. S. Metcalfe, Atsuko Nikka, D. E. Winget, J. Brinkmann, Masataka Fukugita, G. R. Knapp, Robert H. Lupton, J. Allyn Smith, Donald P. Schneider

Ted von Hippel

A sample of white dwarfs is selected from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 3 using their reduced proper motions, based on improved proper motions from combined SDSS and USNO-B data. Numerous SDSS and follow-up spectra (Kilic and coworkers) are used to quantify completeness and contamination of the sample; kinematicsmodels are used to understand and correct for velocity-dependent selection biases.A luminosity function is constructed covering the range 7 < Mbol < 16, and its sensitivity to various assumptions and selection limits is discussed. The white dwarf luminosity function based on 6000 stars is remarkably smooth and rises nearly monotonically to Mbol=15.3. It then drops abruptly, although the small number of low-luminosity stars in the sample and their unknown atmospheric composition prevent quantitative conclusions about this decline. Stars …


Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Xi. Wiyn 3.5 Meter Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis Aug 2019

Wiyn Open Cluster Study. Xi. Wiyn 3.5 Meter Deep Photometry Of M35 (Ngc 2168), Ted Von Hippel, Aaron Steinhauer, Ata Sarajedini, Constantine P. Deliyannis

Ted von Hippel

We present deep BVI observations of the core of M35 and a nearby comparison field obtained at the WIYN 3.5 m telescope under excellent seeing conditions. These observations probe to V > 26 and display the lower main sequence in BV and VI CMDs down to V = 23.3 and 24.6, respectively. At these faint magnitudes the background Galactic field stars are far more numerous than the cluster stars, yet by using a smoothing technique and CMD density distribution subtraction we are able to recover the cluster fiducial main sequence and luminosity function to V = 24.6. We find the location …


White Dwarf Luminosity And Mass Functions From Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectra, Steven Degennaro, Ted Von Hippel, D. E. Winget, S. O. Kepler, Atsuko Nitta, Detlev Koester, Leandro Althaus Aug 2019

White Dwarf Luminosity And Mass Functions From Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectra, Steven Degennaro, Ted Von Hippel, D. E. Winget, S. O. Kepler, Atsuko Nitta, Detlev Koester, Leandro Althaus

Ted von Hippel

We present the first phase in our ongoing work to use Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data to create separate white dwarf (WD) luminosity functions (LFs) for two or more different mass ranges. In this paper, we determine the completeness of the SDSS spectroscopic WD sample by comparing a proper-motion selected sample of WDs from SDSS imaging data with a large catalog of spectroscopically determined WDs. We derive a selection probability as a function of a single color (g − i) and apparent magnitude (g) that covers the range −1.0 < g − i < 0.2 and 15 < g < 19.5. We address the observed upturn in log g for WDs with Teff 12,000 K and offer arguments that the problem is limited to the line profiles and is not present in the continuum. We offer an empirical method of removing the upturn, recovering a reasonable mass function for WDs with Teff < 12,000 K. Finally we present a WD LF with nearly an order of magnitude (3358) more spectroscopically confirmed WDs than any previous work.