Bibcode
Kanaan, A.; Nitta, A.; Winget, D. E.; Kepler, S. O.; Montgomery, M. H.; Metcalfe, T. S.; Oliveira, H.; Fraga, L.; da Costa, A. F. M.; Costa, J. E. S.; Castanheira, B. G.; Giovannini, O.; Nather, R. E.; Mukadam, A.; Kawaler, S. D.; O'Brien, M. S.; Reed, M. D.; Kleinman, S. J.; Provencal, J. L.; Watson, T. K.; Kilkenny, D.; Sullivan, D. J.; Sullivan, T.; Shobbrook, B.; Jiang, X. J.; Ashoka, B. N.; Seetha, S.; Leibowitz, E.; Ibbetson, P.; Mendelson, H.; Meištas, E. G.; Kalytis, R.; Ališauskas, D.; O'Donoghue, D.; Buckley, D.; Martinez, P.; van Wyk, F.; Stobie, R.; Marang, F.; van Zyl, L.; Ogloza, W.; Krzesinski, J.; Zola, S.; Moskalik, P.; Breger, M.; Stankov, A.; Silvotti, R.; Piccioni, A.; Vauclair, G.; Dolez, N.; Chevreton, M.; Deetjen, J.; Dreizler, S.; Schuh, S.; Gonzalez Perez, J. M.; Østensen, R.; Ulla, A.; Manteiga, M.; Suarez, O.; Burleigh, M. R.; Barstow, M. A.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 432, Issue 1, March II 2005, pp.219-224
Advertised on:
3
2005
Journal
Citations
68
Refereed citations
53
Description
BPM 37093 is the only hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarf currently known
which has sufficient mass (~1.1 M&sun;) to theoretically
crystallize while still inside the ZZ Ceti instability strip
(Teff˜12 000 K). As a consequence, this star represents
our first opportunity to test crystallization theory directly. If the
core is substantially crystallized, then the inner boundary for each
pulsation mode will be located at the top of the solid core rather than
at the center of the star, affecting mainly the average period spacing.
This is distinct from the “mode trapping” caused by the
stratified surface layers, which modifies the pulsation periods more
selectively. In this paper we report on Whole Earth Telescope
observations of BPM 37093 obtained in 1998 and 1999. Based on a simple
analysis of the average period spacing we conclude that a large fraction
of the total stellar mass is likely to be crystallized.
Based on observations obtained at: Observatório do Pico dos Dias
(OPD) Brazil, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) Chile, South
African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO), Mt. John University Observatory
(MJUO) New Zealand, Siding Spring Observatory (SSO) Australia, and Cerro
Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO), a division of the National
Optical Astronomy Observatories, which is operated by the Association of
Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. under cooperative agreement
with the National Science Foundation.