Infrared Excesses around Bright White Dwarfs from Gaia and unWISE I

TL;DR

This paper identifies 188 bright white dwarfs with infrared excesses using Gaia and unWISE data, including 147 new candidates, aiding the study of planetary system evolution and white dwarf companions.

Contribution

It presents a new catalog of 188 white dwarf candidates with infrared excesses, expanding the known sample and enabling further research into white dwarf debris disks and companions.

Findings

147 new infrared excess candidates discovered

Significant increase in known white dwarf debris disks

Potential for advancing understanding of planetary system evolution

Abstract

Studies of excess infrared radiation around white dwarfs provide important constraints on the evolution of planetary systems and low-mass stars beyond the main sequence stage. In this paper series, we focus on identifying and characterizing bright white dwarfs with an infrared excess. Here, we present 188 infrared excess candidates from Gaia and unWISE, 147 of which are new discoveries. Further characterization of this sample can significantly increase the current list of white dwarf debris disks and white dwarfs with low-mass companions.