An independent test of the photometric selection of white dwarf candidates using LAMOST DR3

Abstract

In Gentile Fusillo et al. (2015) we developed a selection method for white dwarf candidates which makes use of photometry, colours and proper motions to calculate a probability of being a white dwarf (Pwd). The application of our method to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) data release 10 resulted in nearly 66,000 photometrically selected objects with a derived Pwd, approximately 21000 of which are high confidence white dwarf candidates. Here we present an independent test of our selection method based on a sample of spectroscopically confirmed white dwarfs from the LAMOST (Large Sky Area Multi-Fiber Spectroscopic Telescope) survey. We do this by cross matching all our $\sim$66,000 SDSS photometric white dwarf candidates with the over 4 million spectra available in the third data release of LAMOST. This results in 1673 white dwarf candidates with no previous SDSS spectroscopy, but with available LAMOST spectra. Among these objects we identify 309 genuine white dwarfs. We find that our Pwd can efficiently discriminate between confirmed LAMOST white dwarfs and contaminants. Our white dwarf candidate selection method can be applied to any multi-band photometric survey and in this work we conclusively confirm its reliability in selecting white dwarfs without recourse to spectroscopy. We also discuss the spectroscopic completeness of white dwarfs in LAMOST, as well as deriving effective temperatures, surface gravities and masses for the hydrogen-rich atmosphere white dwarfs in the newly identified LAMOST sample.

10 pages, 7 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS. The full catalogue presented in table 4 is available at http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/research/astro/catalogues/SDSS_WD_candidates_with_LAMOST_spectra.csv

References in corpus (18)

• The death of massive stars - I. Observational constraints on the progenitors of type II-P supernovae
• The frequency of planetary debris around young white dwarfs
• A gaseous metal disk around a white dwarf
• White Dwarf Mass Distribution in the SDSS
• New white dwarf stars in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 10
• On the Spectral Evolution of Cool, Helium-Atmosphere White Dwarfs: Detailed Spectroscopic and Photometric Analysis of DZ Stars
• Post Common Envelope Binaries from SDSS. I: 101 white dwarf main sequence binaries with multiple SDSS spectroscopy
• LAMOST Spectroscopic Survey of the Galactic Anti-centre (LSS-GAC): target selection and the first release of value-added catalogues
• The chemical diversity of exo-terrestrial planetary debris around white dwarfs
• Cataclysmic Variables from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey
• Variable Emission from a Gaseous Disc around a Metal-Polluted White Dwarf
• White Dwarf Luminosity and Mass Functions from Sloan Digital Sky Survey Spectra
• One thousand cataclysmic variables from the Catalina Real-time Transient Survey
• SDSS White Dwarf mass distribution at low effective temperatures
• White dwarf-main sequence binaries from LAMOST: the DR1 catalogue
• DA white dwarfs from the LSS-GAC survey DR1: the preliminary luminosity and mass functions and formation rate
• The mass and luminosity functions and the formation rate of DA white dwarfs in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• The effects of metallicity on the Galactic disk population of white dwarfs

Cited by in corpus (2)

• The white dwarf luminosity function
• New ZZ Ceti stars from the LAMOST survey