Submitting Campus
Daytona Beach
Department
Physical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication/Presentation Date
12-20-2005
Abstract/Description
We present new observations of the white dwarf G29-38 with the camera (4.5 and 8 μm), photometer (24 μm), and spectrograph (5.5-14 μm) of the Spitzer Space Telescope. This star has an exceptionally large infrared excess, amounting to 3% of the bolometric luminosity. The spectral energy distribution (SED) has a continuum peak around 4.5 μm and a 9-11 μm emission feature 1.25 times brighter than the continuum. A mixture of amorphous olivine and a small amount of forsterite in an emitting region 1-5 R☉ from the star can reproduce the shape of the 9-11 μm feature. The SED also appears to require amorphous carbon to explain the hot continuum. Our new measurements support the idea that a relatively recent disruption of a comet or asteroid created the cloud.
Publication Title
The Astrophysical Journal
Publisher
Institute of Physics Publishing, Inc.
Grant or Award Name
NASA award project NBR 1269551
Scholarly Commons Citation
Reach, W. T., von Hippel, T., & al., e. (2005). The Dust Cloud Around the White Dwarf G29-38. The Astrophysical Journal, 635(2). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/publication/261
Additional Information
Dr. von Hippel was not affiliated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the time this paper was published.