Abstract
Using observations of Spitzer/IRAC, we report the serendipitous discovery of excess infrared emission from a single white dwarf PG 0010+280. At a temperature of 27,220 K and a cooling age of 16 Myr, it is the hottest and youngest white dwarf to display an excess at 3-8 μm. The infrared excess can be fit by either an opaque dust disk within the tidal radius of the white dwarf or a 1300 K blackbody, possibly from an irradiated substellar object or a re-heated giant planet. PG 0010+280 has two unique properties that are different from white dwarfs with a dust disk: (i) relatively low emission at 8 μm and (ii) non-detection of heavy elements in its atmosphere from high-resolution spectroscopic observations with Keck/HIRES. The origin of the infrared excess remains unclear.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | L5 |
Journal | Astrophysical Journal Letters |
Volume | 806 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jun 10 2015 |
Keywords
- circumstellar matter
- minor planets asteroids: general
- white dwarfs
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
- Space and Planetary Science