Analysis of IUE spectra of helium-rich white dwarf stars

Abstract

We studied the class of DB white dwarf stars, using re-calibrated UV spectra for thirty four DBs obtained with the IUE satellite. By comparing the observed energy distributions with model atmospheres, we simultaneously determine spectroscopic distances (d), effective temperature (Teff), and surface gravities (log g). Using parallax measurements and previous determinations of Teff and log g from optical spectra, we can study whether the atmospheres of eleven DB stars are consistent with pure He or have a small amount of H contamination. We also report on our observations of seventeen stars with Teff close to the DB instability strip through time series photometry and found them to be non variable within our detection limits.

8 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (1)

• A deeper understanding of white dwarf interiors

Cited by in corpus (5)

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• White Dwarf Mass Distribution in the SDSS
• New Pulsating DB White Dwarf Stars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
• Systematic uncertainties in the characterisation of helium-dominated metal-polluted white dwarf atmospheres
• The Absolute Flux Distribution of LDS749B