Brown dwarf companions to white dwarfs
Brown dwarf companions to white dwarfs are rare, but recent infra-red surveys are slowly revealing examples. We present new observations of the post-common envelope binary WD0137-349, which reveals the effects of irradiation on the approximate to 0.05M(circle dot) secondary, and new observations of GD 1400 which show that it too is a close, post-common envelope system. We also present the latest results in a near-infrared photometric search for unresolved ultra-cool companions and to white dwarfs with UKIDSS. Twenty five DA white dwarfs were identified as having photometric excesses indicative of a low mass companion, with 8-10 of these having a predicted mass in the range associated with brown dwarfs. The results of this survey show that the unresolved (< 2 '') brown dwarf companion fraction to DA white dwarfs is 0.3 <= f(WD+BD) <= 1.3%.
Item Type | Book Section |
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Additional information | "Copyright 2011 American Institute of Physics. This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics." |
Keywords | white dwarfs, brown dwarfs, binaries |
Date Deposited | 15 May 2025 16:25 |
Last Modified | 30 May 2025 23:11 |
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