The infrared excess around the white dwarf G29-38 can be explained by emission from an opaque flat ring of dust with an inner radius of 0.14 R☉ and an outer radius of less than 1 R☉. This ring lies within the Roche region of the white dwarf where an asteroid could have been tidally destroyed, producing a system reminiscent of Saturn's rings. Accretion onto the white dwarf from this circumstellar dust can explain the observed calcium abundance in the atmosphere of G29-38. Either as a bombardment by a series of asteroids or because of one large disruption, the total amount of matter accreted onto the white dwarf may have been ~4 × 1024 g, comparable to the total mass of asteroids in the solar system, or, equivalently, about 1% of the mass in the asteroid belt around the main-sequence star ζ Lep.

http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/374036/pdf

A Tidally Disrupted Asteroid around the White Dwarf G29-38

We report Keck telescope HIRES echelle observations of DA white dwarfs in a continuation of an extensive search for metals. These spectra are supplemented with new JHK magnitudes that are used to determine improved atmospheric parameters. Of the DA white dwarfs not in binary or common proper motion systems, about 25% show Ca II lines. For these, Ca abundances are determined from comparison with theoretical equivalent widths from model atmosphere calculations; in a few cases we also obtain Mg, Fe, Si, and Al abundances. If Ca is not observed, we generally determine very stringent upper limits. We compare the data to predictions of previously published models involving the accretion/diffusion of interstellar matter and of comets. The derived abundances are not obviously compatible with the predictions of either model, which up to now could only be tested with traces of metals in helium-rich white dwarfs. By modifying certain assumptions in the published interstellar accretion model we are able to match the distribution of the elements in the white dwarf atmospheres, but, even so, tests of other expectations from this scenario are less successful. Because comet accretion appears unlikely to be the primary cause of the DAZ phenomenon, the data suggest that no more than about 20% of F-type main-sequence stars are accompanied by Oort-like comet clouds. This represents the first observational estimate of this fraction. A plausible alternative to the accretion of cometary or interstellar matter is disruption and accretion of asteroidal material, a model first suggested in 1990 to explain excess near-infrared emission from the DAZ G29-38. An asteroidal debris model to account for the general DAZ phenomenon does not presently disagree with the HIRES data, but neither is there any compelling evidence in support of such a model. The HIRES data indicate that in close red dwarf/white dwarf binaries not known to be cataclysmic variables there is, nonetheless, significant mass transfer, perhaps in the form of a wind flowing off the red dwarf. As a by-product we find from the kinematics of GD 165 a likely age of more than 2 Gyr for its probable brown dwarf companion GD 165B.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/377492/pdf

Metal Lines in DA White Dwarfs

The presence of planets around solar-type stars suggests that many white dwarfs should have relic planetary systems. While planets closer than ~5 AU will most likely not survive the post-main-sequence lifetime of their parent star, any planet with semimajor axis greater than 5 AU will survive, and its semimajor axis will increase as the central star loses mass. Since the stability of adjacent orbits to mutual planet-planet perturbations depends on the ratio of the planet mass to the central star's mass, some planets in previously stable orbits around a star undergoing mass loss will become unstable. We show that when mass loss is slow, systems of two planets that are marginally stable can become unstable to close encounters, while for three planets the timescale for close approaches decreases significantly with increasing mass ratio. These processes could explain the presence of anomalous IR excesses around white dwarfs that cannot be explained by close companions, such as G29-38, and may also be an important factor in explaining the existence of DAZ white dwarfs. The onset of instability through changing mass ratios will also be a significant effect for planetary embryos gaining mass in protoplanetary disks.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1086/340291/pdf

Are There Unstable Planetary Systems around White Dwarfs

The infrared excess around the white dwarf G29-38 can be explained by emission from an opaque flat ring of dust with an inner radius 0.14 of the radius of the Sun and an outer radius approximately equal to the Sun's. This ring lies within the Roche region of the white dwarf where an asteroid could have been tidally destroyed, producing a system reminiscent of Saturn's rings. Accretion onto the white dwarf from this circumstellar dust can explain the observed calcium abundance in the atmosphere of G29-38. Either as a bombardment by a series of asteroids or because of one large disruption, the total amount of matter accreted onto the white dwarf may have been comparable to the total mass of asteroids in the Solar System, or, equivalently, about 1% of the mass in the asteroid belt around the main sequence star zeta Lep.

https://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0301411.pdf

A Tidally-Disrupted Asteroid Around the White Dwarf G29-38

Spitzer Space Observatory IRAC and MIPS photometric observations are presented for 20 white dwarfs with T eff 20, 000 K and metal-contaminated photospheres. A warm circumstellar disk is detected at GD 16 and likely at PG 1457?086, while the remaining targets fail to reveal mid-infrared excess typical of dust disks, including a number of heavily polluted stars. Extending previous studies, over 50% of all single white dwarfs with implied metal-accretion rates dM/dt 3 ? 108 g s?1 display a warm infrared excess from orbiting dust; the likely result of a tidally destroyed minor planet. This benchmark accretion rate lies between the dust production rates of 106 g s?1 in the solar system zodiacal cloud and 1010 g s?1 often inferred for debris disks at main-sequence A-type stars. It is estimated that between 1% and 3% of all single white dwarfs with cooling ages less than around 0.5 Gyr possess circumstellar dust, signifying an underlying population of minor planets.

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/694/2/805/pdf

Infrared signatures of disrupted minor planets at white dwarfs

It is shown how to obtain interesting limits on the number of comets in orbit around other single stars in clouds similar to the one present in our own solar system. The number of comets around white dwarf stars is constrained directly, and this in turn constrains the presence of comets around main-sequence stars. If a white dwarf possesses a cloud of comets similar to the Oort cloud, it will occassionally accrete a comet. The accretion of a comet may add enough heavy elements to the atmosphere of the white dwarf to produce a recognizable spectral signature; it is suggested that the calcium reported in the white dwarf G 74-7 is due to recent comet accretion. This signature will persist until sedimentation has removed the heavy elements from the atmosphere; the mean time between accretion events is comparable to the sedimentation time for cool DA stars, so this signature should be frequently observed if cometary systems are common. The possibility that cometary systems greater than or approximately equal to 3 times more massive than the Oort cloud are present around most white dwarf stars are excluded and how this limit can be improved is indicated. It is shown that a star keeps most of its comets during the vigorous mass loss phase prior to the appearance of the white dwarf star. Thus, the constraints obtained here may be applied to the main-sequence progenitors of the white dwarfs.

C. C. Fristrom

Papers

On the number of comets around other single stars

On the Number of Comets Around Other Single Stars