Pollution of single white dwarfs by accretion of many small asteroids

Abstract

Extrapolating from the solar system's asteroid belt, we propose that externally-contaminated white dwarfs without an infrared excess may be experiencing continuous accretion of gas-phase material that ultimately is derived from the tidal destruction of multiple small asteroids. If this scenario is correct, then observations of metal-polluted white dwarfs may lead to determining the bulk elemental compositions of ensembles of extrasolar minor planets.

arXiv commentAJ, in press, 19 pages, 4 figures

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