A disintegrating minor planet transiting a white dwarf
Andrew Vanderburg, John Asher Johnson, Saul Rappaport, Allyson, Bieryla, Jonathan Irwin, John Arban Lewis, David Kipping, Warren R. Brown,, Patrick Dufour, David R. Ciardi, Ruth Angus, Laura Schaefer, David W. Latham,, David Charbonneau, Charles Beichman, Jason Eastman

TL;DR
This paper reports the discovery of a white dwarf being transited by disintegrating minor planets, providing direct evidence of planetary debris disruption and pollution in white dwarf systems.
Contribution
First direct observation of disintegrating minor planets transiting a white dwarf, linking planetary debris disruption to atmospheric pollution.
Findings
Detected multiple transits with asymmetric profiles and deep dips up to 40%.
Observed heavy elements in the star's spectrum indicating planetary debris pollution.
Confirmed presence of a dusty debris disk around the white dwarf.
Abstract
White dwarfs are the end state of most stars, including the Sun, after they exhaust their nuclear fuel. Between 1/4 and 1/2 of white dwarfs have elements heavier than helium in their atmospheres, even though these elements should rapidly settle into the stellar interiors unless they are occasionally replenished. The abundance ratios of heavy elements in white dwarf atmospheres are similar to rocky bodies in the Solar system. This and the existence of warm dusty debris disks around about 4% of white dwarfs suggest that rocky debris from white dwarf progenitors' planetary systems occasionally pollute the stars' atmospheres. The total accreted mass can be comparable to that of large asteroids in the solar system. However, the process of disrupting planetary material has not yet been observed. Here, we report observations of a white dwarf being transited by at least one and likely multiple…
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Taxonomy
TopicsStellar, planetary, and galactic studies · Astronomy and Astrophysical Research · History and Developments in Astronomy
