A planetesimal orbiting within the debris disc around a white dwarf star

Christopher J Manser; Boris T Gänsicke; Siegfried Eggl; Mark Hollands; Paula Izquierdo; Detlev Koester; John D Landstreet; Wladimir Lyra; Thomas R Marsh; Farzana Meru; Alexander J Mustill; Pablo Rodríguez-Gil; Odette Toloza; Dimitri Veras; David J Wilson; Matthew R Burleigh; Melvyn B Davies; Jay Farihi; Nicola Gentile Fusillo; Domitilla de Martino; Steven G Parsons; Andreas Quirrenbach; Roberto Raddi; Sabine Reffert; Melania Del Santo; Matthias R Schreiber; Roberto Silvotti; Silvia Toonen; Eva Villaver; Mark Wyatt; Siyi Xu; Simon Portegies Zwart

doi:10.1126/science.aat5330

A planetesimal orbiting within the debris disc around a white dwarf star

Science. 2019 Apr 5;364(6435):66-69. doi: 10.1126/science.aat5330.

Authors

Christopher J Manser¹, Boris T Gänsicke^{2

3}, Siegfried Eggl⁴, Mark Hollands², Paula Izquierdo^{5

6}, Detlev Koester⁷, John D Landstreet^{8

9}, Wladimir Lyra^{4

10}, Thomas R Marsh², Farzana Meru², Alexander J Mustill¹¹, Pablo Rodríguez-Gil^{5

6}, Odette Toloza², Dimitri Veras^{2

3}, David J Wilson^{2

12}, Matthew R Burleigh¹³, Melvyn B Davies¹¹, Jay Farihi¹⁴, Nicola Gentile Fusillo², Domitilla de Martino¹⁵, Steven G Parsons¹⁶, Andreas Quirrenbach¹⁷, Roberto Raddi¹⁸, Sabine Reffert¹⁷, Melania Del Santo¹⁹, Matthias R Schreiber^{20

21}, Roberto Silvotti²², Silvia Toonen²³, Eva Villaver²⁴, Mark Wyatt²⁵, Siyi Xu²⁶, Simon Portegies Zwart²⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK. [email protected].
² Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
³ Centre for Exoplanets and Habitability, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.
⁴ Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
⁵ Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, E-38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
⁶ Departamento de Astrofísica, Universidad de La Laguna, E-38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain.
⁷ Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Universität Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany.
⁸ Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 3K7, Canada.
⁹ Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, College Hill, Armagh, Co. Armagh BT61 9DG, UK.
¹⁰ Department of Physics and Astronomy, California State University, Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge, CA 91330, USA.
¹¹ Lund Observatory, Department of Astronomy and Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Box 43, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
¹² McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
¹³ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Leicester Institute of Space and Earth Observation, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester LE1 7RH, UK.
¹⁴ Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
¹⁵ Osservatorio Astronomico di Capodimonte, National Institute for Astrophysics, Via Moiarello 16, 80131 Napoli, Italy.
¹⁶ Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK.
¹⁷ Landessternwarte, Zentrum für Astronomie der Universität Heidelberg, Königstuhl 12, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany.
¹⁸ Dr. Karl Remeis-Sternwarte, Astronomisches Institut der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Sternwartestr. 7, 96049, Bamberg, Germany.
¹⁹ National Institute for Astrophysics/Institute of Space Astrophysics and Cosmic Physics, via Ugo La Malfa 153, 90146, Palermo, Italy.
²⁰ Instituto de Física y Astronomía, Universidad de Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, 5030 Casilla, Valparaíso, Chile.
²¹ Milennium Nucleus for Planet Formation - NPF, Universidad de Valparaíso, Av. Gran Bretaña 1111, Valparaíso, Chile.
²² National Institute for Astrophysics, Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino, Strada dell'Osservatorio 20, 10025 Pino Torinese, Italy.
²³ Anton Pannekoek Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, University of Amsterdam, P.O. Box 94249, 1090 GE, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
²⁴ Departamento de Física Teórica, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Cantoblanco 28049 Madrid, Spain.
²⁵ Institute of Astronomy, Madingley Rd, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK.
²⁶ Gemini Observatory, Northern Operations Center, 670 N. A'ohoku Place, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.
²⁷ Sterrewacht Leiden, Leiden University, P.O. Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands.

PMID: 30948547
DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5330

Abstract

Many white dwarf stars show signs of having accreted smaller bodies, implying that they may host planetary systems. A small number of these systems contain gaseous debris discs, visible through emission lines. We report a stable 123.4-minute periodic variation in the strength and shape of the Ca ii emission line profiles originating from the debris disc around the white dwarf SDSS J122859.93+104032.9. We interpret this short-period signal as the signature of a solid-body planetesimal held together by its internal strength.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't