Abstract
AbstractAlmost all stars in the Milky Way, including the Sun, will end their lives as white dwarfs. Their relatively peaceful transition off of the main sequence implies that most of their planetary systems will survive engulfment during the deaths of their host stars. These remnant planetary systems remain detectable for many Gyr through the occasional metal-contamination of the white dwarf photospheres by tidally disrupted planetesimals. Spectral analysis of these “metal-polluted” white dwarfs therefore provides a direct method for measuring the chemical compositions of extrasolar material. Here we present our sample of 230 cool white dwarfs with metal-rich photospheres, explore the diverse range of compositions of the accreted matter, and discuss two extreme systems which have respectively accreted planetesimals consistent with crust-like and core-like planetary material.
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