Abstract
We suggest that Jovian planets will survive the late stages of stellar evolution, and that white dwarfs will retain planetary systems in wide orbits (>5AU). Utilising evolutionary models for Jovian planets, we show that infra-red imaging with 8m class telescopes of suitable nearby white dwarfs should allow us to resolve and detect companions >3Mjup. Detection of massive planetary companions to nearby white dwarfs would prove that such objects can survive the final stages of stellar evolution, place constraints on the frequency of main sequence stars with planetary systems dynamically similar to our own and allow direct spectroscopic investigation of their composition and structure.
Highlights
Over 70 extra-solar planets have been detected since the discovery of a companion to the solar-type star 51 Peg in 1995 (Mayor & Queloz 1995)
We have suggested that Jovian planets will survive the late stages of stellar evolution, and that some nearby white dwarfs possess planetary systems in wide orbits
Utilising evolutionary models for Jovian planets, we have shown that infra-red imaging of suitable nearby white dwarfs should allow us to resolve and detect companions M∼>3 MJUP with 8m class telescopes
Summary
Over 70 extra-solar planets have been detected since the discovery of a companion to the solar-type star 51 Peg in 1995 (Mayor & Queloz 1995). There is potentially a strong gain in the brightness contrast between a planet and a white dwarf when compared to a main sequence star, assuming that planets can survive the late stages of stellar evolution. Chu et al (2001) have suggested that, near a hot UV-bright white dwarf, the atmosphere of a Jovian planet would be photoionized and emit variable hydrogen recombination lines, which may be detected by high-dispersion spectroscopic observations. Both these methods rely on the planet being in a close (0.01–2AU) proximity to the white dwarf, where it would be difficult to resolve.
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