Bibcode
Leggett, S. K.; Lodieu, N.; Tremblay, P.-E.; Bergeron, P.; Nitta, A.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 735, Issue 1, article id. 62 (2011).
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7
2011
Journal
Citations
12
Refereed citations
10
Description
We present the results of a search for cool white dwarfs in the United
Kingdom InfraRed Telescope (UKIRT) Infrared Deep Sky Survey (UKIDSS)
Large Area Survey (LAS). The UKIDSS LAS photometry was paired with the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey to identify cool hydrogen-rich white dwarf
candidates by their neutral optical colors and blue near-infrared
colors, as well as faint reduced proper motion magnitudes. Optical
spectroscopy was obtained at Gemini Observatory and showed the majority
of the candidates to be newly identified cool degenerates, with a small
number of G- to K-type (sub)dwarf contaminants. Our initial search of
280 deg2 of sky resulted in seven new white dwarfs with
effective temperature T eff ≈ 6000 K. The current
follow-up of 1400 deg2 of sky has produced 13 new white
dwarfs. Model fits to the photometry show that seven of the newly
identified white dwarfs have 4120 K <=T eff <= 4480 K,
and cooling ages between 7.3 Gyr and 8.7 Gyr; they have 40 km
s-1 <= v tan <= 85 km s-1 and are
likely to be thick disk 10-11 Gyr-old objects. The other half of the
sample has 4610 K <=T eff <= 5260 K, cooling ages
between 4.3 Gyr and 6.9 Gyr, and 60 km s-1 <= v
tan <= 100 km s-1. These are either thin disk
remnants with unusually high velocities, or lower-mass remnants of thick
disk or halo late-F or G stars.