The white dwarf mass-radius relation with Gaia, Hubble and FUSE

Simon R.G. Joyce, Martin A. Barstow, Sarah L. Casewell, Jay B. Holberg, Howard E. Bond

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

White dwarfs are becoming useful tools for many areas of astronomy. They can be used as accurate chronometers over Gyr timescales. They are also clues to the history of star formation in our galaxy. Many of these studies require accurate estimates of the mass of the white dwarf. The theoretical mass-radius relation is often invoked to provide these mass estimates. While the theoretical mass-radius relation is well developed, observational tests of this relation show a much larger scatter in the results than expected. High precision observational tests to confirm this relation are required. Gaia is providing distance measurements which will remove one of the main source of uncertainty affecting most previous observations. We combine Gaia distances with spectra from the Hubble and FUSE satelites to make precise tests of the white dwarf mass-radius relation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)301-304
Number of pages4
JournalProceedings of the International Astronomical Union
Volume12
Issue numberS330
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2017

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Medicine (miscellaneous)
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
  • Space and Planetary Science

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