Journal
MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 436, Issue 1, Pages 241-252Publisher
OXFORD UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stt1588
Keywords
binaries: eclipsing; stars: late-type; stars: magnetic field; white dwarfs
Categories
Funding
- Joint Committee ESO-Government of Chile
- Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
- European Research Council under European Union [267697]
- FONDECYT [1100782]
- Millennium Science Initiative, Chilean ministry of Economy [Nucleus P10-022-F]
- STFC [ST/K002783/1, ST/J001589/1, ST/I001719/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [ST/K002783/1, ST/J001589/1, ST/I001719/1] Funding Source: researchfish
Ask authors/readers for more resources
SDSS J030308.35+005444.1 is a close, detached, eclipsing white dwarf plus M dwarf binary which shows a large infrared excess which has been interpreted in terms of a circumbinary dust disc. In this paper, we present optical and near-infrared photometric and spectroscopic data for this system. At optical wavelengths, we observe heated pole caps from the white dwarf caused by accretion of wind material from the main-sequence star on to the white dwarf. At near-infrared wavelengths, we see the eclipse of two poles on the surface of the white dwarf by the main-sequence star indicating that the white dwarf is magnetic. Our spectroscopic observations reveal Zeeman-split emission lines in the hydrogen Balmer series, which we use to measure the magnetic field strength as 8 MG. This measurement indicates that the cyclotron lines are located in the infrared, naturally explaining the infrared excess without the need for a circumbinary dust disc. We also detect magnetically confined material located roughly midway between the two stars. Using measurements of the radial velocity amplitude and rotational broadening of the M star, we constrain the physical parameters of the system, a first for a magnetic white dwarf, and the location of the poles on the surface of the white dwarf. SDSS J030308.35+005444.1 is a pre-cataclysmic variable that will likely evolve into an intermediate polar in similar to 1 Gyr.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available