Matthew Burleigh
Dept. Physics Astron., Univ. Leicester (Leicester, Royaume-Uni)
Amphithéâtre Henri Mineur, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris
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| « The death of solar systems: searching for old planets around white dwarfs » |
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Matthew Burleigh |
| Planets are being found around an increasing variety of post-main sequence stars, including evolved subgiants and hot subdwarfs. I will discuss the results of on-going searches for planets around white dwarfs through direct imaging, mid-infrared photometry and more obscure techniques such as pulsation timing anomalies and transit surveys. These studies help us to understand the evolution of solar systems beyond the main sequence phase, and tell us about planetary populations and formation at the white dwarfs' progenitors: intermediate mass stars up to 8 solar masses. I will highlight the recent discovery of a population of white dwarfs surrounded by warm dust disks with compositions and masses similar to some asteroids and rocky planets in our solar system, and the detection of a growing population of brown dwarf companions. I will also discuss the recent detection of a ~6 Jupiter mass object in a wide orbit around a nearby white dwarf in our Spitzer survey, the current limits on the masses and frequency of planets at white dwarfs, and the prospects for future searches as we approach the JWST era. |
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vendredi 15 février 2013 - 11:00 Amphithéâtre Henri Mineur, Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris |
| Page web du séminaire / Seminar's webpage |