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Title: The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXVIII. Characterization of the Galactic White Dwarf Population

Abstract

We use three different techniques to identify hundreds of white dwarf (WD) candidates in the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS) based on photometry from the NGVS and GUViCS, and proper motions derived from the NGVS and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Photometric distances for these candidates are calculated using theoretical color–absolute magnitude relations, while effective temperatures are measured by fitting their spectral energy distributions. Disk and halo WD candidates are separated using a tangential velocity cut of 200 km s{sup −1} in a reduced proper motion diagram, which leads to a sample of six halo WD candidates. Cooling ages, calculated for an assumed WD mass of 0.6 M {sub ⊙}, range between 60 Myr and 6 Gyr, although these estimates depend sensitively on the adopted mass. Luminosity functions for the disk and halo subsamples are constructed and compared to previous results from the SDSS and SuperCOSMOS survey. We compute a number density of (2.81 ± 0.52) × 10{sup −3} pc{sup −3} for the disk WD population—consistent with previous measurements. We find (7.85 ± 4.55) × 10{sup −6} pc{sup −3} for the halo, or 0.3% of the disk. Observed stellar counts are also compared to predictions made by themore » TRILEGAL and Besançon stellar population synthesis models. The comparison suggests that the TRILEGAL model overpredicts the total number of WDs. The WD counts predicted by the Besançon model agree with the observations, although a discrepancy arises when comparing the predicted and observed halo WD populations; the difference is likely due to the WD masses in the adopted model halo.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ; ; ;  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6]
  1. Department of Physics and Astronomy,University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 1A1 (Canada)
  2. National Research Council of Canada, Herzberg Astronomy and Astrophysics Program, 5071 W. Saanich Road, Victoria, BC, V9E 2E7 (Canada)
  3. Queen’s University, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, Kingston, Ontario (Canada)
  4. Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 (United States)
  5. CEA/IRFU/SAp, Laboratoire AIM Paris-Saclay, CNRS/INSU, Université Paris Diderot, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, F-91191 Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex (France)
  6. Leibniz Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP), An der Sternwarte 16, D-14482 Potsdam (Germany)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22663440
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 843; Journal Issue: 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; CATALOGS; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; COOLING; DENSITY; ENERGY SPECTRA; FORECASTING; GALAXIES; LUMINOSITY; MASS; PHOTOMETRY; PROPER MOTION; STAR CLUSTERS; VELOCITY; WHITE DWARF STARS

Citation Formats

Fantin, Nicholas J., Côté, Patrick, Gwyn, S. D. J., Ferrarese, Laura, McConnachie, Alan, Hanes, David A., Bianchi, Luciana, Cuillandre, Jean-Charles, and Starkenburg, Else. The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXVIII. Characterization of the Galactic White Dwarf Population. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/AA7755.
Fantin, Nicholas J., Côté, Patrick, Gwyn, S. D. J., Ferrarese, Laura, McConnachie, Alan, Hanes, David A., Bianchi, Luciana, Cuillandre, Jean-Charles, & Starkenburg, Else. The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXVIII. Characterization of the Galactic White Dwarf Population. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA7755
Fantin, Nicholas J., Côté, Patrick, Gwyn, S. D. J., Ferrarese, Laura, McConnachie, Alan, Hanes, David A., Bianchi, Luciana, Cuillandre, Jean-Charles, and Starkenburg, Else. 2017. "The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXVIII. Characterization of the Galactic White Dwarf Population". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/AA7755.
@article{osti_22663440,
title = {The Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey. XXVIII. Characterization of the Galactic White Dwarf Population},
author = {Fantin, Nicholas J. and Côté, Patrick and Gwyn, S. D. J. and Ferrarese, Laura and McConnachie, Alan and Hanes, David A. and Bianchi, Luciana and Cuillandre, Jean-Charles and Starkenburg, Else},
abstractNote = {We use three different techniques to identify hundreds of white dwarf (WD) candidates in the Next Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS) based on photometry from the NGVS and GUViCS, and proper motions derived from the NGVS and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). Photometric distances for these candidates are calculated using theoretical color–absolute magnitude relations, while effective temperatures are measured by fitting their spectral energy distributions. Disk and halo WD candidates are separated using a tangential velocity cut of 200 km s{sup −1} in a reduced proper motion diagram, which leads to a sample of six halo WD candidates. Cooling ages, calculated for an assumed WD mass of 0.6 M {sub ⊙}, range between 60 Myr and 6 Gyr, although these estimates depend sensitively on the adopted mass. Luminosity functions for the disk and halo subsamples are constructed and compared to previous results from the SDSS and SuperCOSMOS survey. We compute a number density of (2.81 ± 0.52) × 10{sup −3} pc{sup −3} for the disk WD population—consistent with previous measurements. We find (7.85 ± 4.55) × 10{sup −6} pc{sup −3} for the halo, or 0.3% of the disk. Observed stellar counts are also compared to predictions made by the TRILEGAL and Besançon stellar population synthesis models. The comparison suggests that the TRILEGAL model overpredicts the total number of WDs. The WD counts predicted by the Besançon model agree with the observations, although a discrepancy arises when comparing the predicted and observed halo WD populations; the difference is likely due to the WD masses in the adopted model halo.},
doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/AA7755},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22663440}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 1,
volume = 843,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Sat Jul 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}