Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Hubble Space Telescope Observations Of Cool White Dwarf Stars: Detection Of New Species Of Heavy Elements, Harry Shipman, Terry D. Oswalt

Aerospace, Physics, and Space Science Faculty Publications

Observations of cool white dwarf stars with the Hubble Space Telescope has uncovered a number of spectral features from previously unobserved species. In this paper we present the data on four cool white dwarfs. We present line identifications, equivalent width measurements, and brief summaries of the significance of our findings. The four stars observed are GD 40 (DBZ3), G 74-7 (DAZ), L 745-46A (DZ), and LDS 749 B (DBA). Many additional species of heavy elements were detected in GD 40 and G 74-7. In L 745-46A,while the detections are limited to Fe I, Fe II, and Mg II, the quality …