Abstract
ABSTRACT We report the discovery of a subtle infrared excess associated with the young white dwarf EC 05365–4749 at 3.35 and 4.6 μm. Follow-up spectroscopic observations are consistent with a hydrogen atmosphere white dwarf of effective temperature 22,800 K and log [g (cm s−2)] = 8.19. High-resolution spectroscopy reveals atmospheric metal pollution with logarithmic abundances of [Mg/H] = −5.36 and [Ca/H] = −5.75, confirming the white dwarf is actively accreting from a metal-rich source with an intriguing abundance pattern. We find that the infrared excess is well modeled by a flat, opaque debris disk, though disk parameters are not well constrained by the small number of infrared excess points. We further demonstrate that relaxing the assumption of a circular dusty debris disk to include elliptical disks expands the widths of acceptable disks, adding an alternative interpretation to the subtle infrared excesses commonly observed around young white dwarfs.
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