Speaker
Description
Most Sun-like stars host planets. Once these stars run out of fuel in the core, they will go through a short red giant phase and end their life as a white dwarf. It is unknown what happens the planetary systems around these stars: does the red giant engulf them, ejected, or are entirely new planets born?
In my talk, I will present the results of a systematic search of Zwicky Transient Facility data for white dwarf that show transits, to be published in three papers. The first result is the discovery of almost a tens of white dwarfs that are orbited by brown dwarfs or Jupiter-size planets. The second result is the discovery of fading events caused by asteroids and comets that get disrupted close to the white dwarf, either by collisions or tidal disruption. One such event was extreme enough to create enough dust and debris the hide the white dwarf for a full year! The final result is the discovery of a hundred day long transit of unknown nature. The most plausible explanation is that a huge object, possible a planet with giant rings, is transiting the white dwarf.
All these results show that planetary systems around white dwarfs are very diverse and active. With BlackGEM, the release of Gaia DR4 to be released soon, and the start of Vera Rubin Observatory, many more such discoveries can be expected in the near future.
| Talk category | NOVA Network 3 |
|---|---|
| Preference for a talk or poster | Talk |
