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J. J. Schaefer (SARA, University of Wyoming), T. D. Oswalt, K. B. Johnston, M. Rudkin, T. Heinz (SARA, Florida Institute of Technology)
The Continuing Search for Variability Among Cool White Dwarfs
Justin J. Schaefer University of Wyoming Department of Physics and Astronomy P.O. Box 3905 Laramie, Wyoming 82071 USA (schaefju@uwyo.edu)
Terry D. Oswalt, Kyle Johnston, Merissa Rudkin, Tamalyn Heinz Florida Institute of Technology and the SARA Observatory Department of Physics & Space Sciences 150 West University Boulevard Melbourne, Florida 32901 USA (oswalt@luyten.astro.fit.edu, kyjohnst@fit.edu, mrudkin@astro.fit.edu, theinz@fit.edu)
ABSTRACT
We present BVRI photometry of eleven binaries with white dwarf (WD) components. The observations were obtained at the SARA 0.9-meter telescope on Kitt Peak during the summer of 2002.
Standard system (B-V), (V-R) and (R-I) color indices of four white dwarfs were determined. This data will be used to estimate the WD cooling ages in wide WD+dM binaries, as part of our ongoing research program to determine the chromospheric activity-age relation for M dwarf stars.
Time-series differential photometry was also collected for eight cool white dwarfs as part of a program to explore the variability in the low luminosity, low temperature regime of the WD cooling track. We failed to detect any variability greater than ~0.04 magnitudes in these stars.
Several nights of differential photometry data were collected on the DAO WD + K dwarf short-period variable HS1136+6646. From the light variations we determined a likely orbital period of 0.825 ±0.009 days. Strong evidence is presented for two other possible periods within this light curve, possibly indicative of rotational modulation by the WD component.
We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Science Foundation, which funds the SARA Research Experiences for Undergraduates program via grant AST-0097616 to Florida Tech. One of us (TDO) also acknowledges partial support for this work from NASA (subcontract Y701296) and the NSF (AST 0206115).
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: schaefju@uwyo.edu
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #4
© 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.