Bibcode
Gary, B. L.; Rappaport, S.; Kaye, T. G.; Alonso, R.; Hambschs, F.-J.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, vol. 465, issue 3, pp. 3267-3280
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3
2017
Citations
52
Refereed citations
47
Description
WD 1145+017 was observed from 2015 November to 2016 July for the purpose
of characterizing transit behavior of the white dwarf by dust clouds
thought to be produced by fragments of an asteroid in close orbit with
the star. Fortuitously, most of these observations were carried out
during a time when the overall `dip' activity was dramatically enhanced
over that during its discovery with Kepler K2. By the end of our
reported observations the dip activity had declined to a level close to
its K2 discovery state. Three notable events were observed. In 2016
January a large number of dust clouds appeared that had an orbital
period of 4.4912 hours, and this event also marked the end of a 3-month
interval dominated by the K2 `A' period. The second event was a 2016
April 21 appearance of four dip features with drift lines in a waterfall
diagram (date vs. phase) that diverged from their origin date, at a
location away from the `A' asteroid, and which lasted for two weeks. The
third event was the sudden appearance of a dip feature with a period of
4.6064 hours, which is essentially the same as the K2 `B' period. The
evolution of dip shape, depth, and total fade amount provide constraints
on dust production and loss mechanisms. Collisions can account for the
sudden appearance of dust clouds, and the sudden increase in dust
amount, but another mechanism for continual dust production is also
required.
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