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White Dwarf Planetary Systems: Insights Regarding the Fate of Planetary Systems

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Formation, Evolution, and Dynamics of Young Solar Systems

Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 445))

Abstract

Planetary material accreted by white dwarfs provides critical insights regarding the composition of planetary material . The analysis of polluted white dwarfs suggests that rocky planetary material similar in composition to bulk Earth is common, and that differentiation and collisions play a key role in planetary systems. Infrared observations track the accretion of dusty planetary material in disks that share many similarities with Saturn’s rings, as well as proto-planetary disks. Planetary material arrives close to the star, scattered inwards from an outer planetary systems that has survived the star’s evolution. White dwarf planetary systems provide key observational constraints that enable us to study the evolution of planetary systems under extreme conditions.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Out of all the dusty white dwarfs, eight of them display double peaked emission lines from a circumstellar gas disk . Some of the gas lines also change on yearly timescale (e.g. Gänsicke et al. 2006). However, the detailed discussion about these systems is beyond the scope of this review.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Bruce Gary and Saul Rappaport for updating Fig. 8.7 for this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0HA, UK

    Amy Bonsor

  2. European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748, Garching, Germany

    Siyi Xu

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  1. Amy Bonsor
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  2. Siyi Xu
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Correspondence to Amy Bonsor .

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  1. The Niels Bohr Institute, Niels Bohr International Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Martin Pessah

  2. The Niels Bohr Institute, Niels Bohr International Academy, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Oliver Gressel

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Bonsor, A., Xu, S. (2017). White Dwarf Planetary Systems: Insights Regarding the Fate of Planetary Systems. In: Pessah, M., Gressel, O. (eds) Formation, Evolution, and Dynamics of Young Solar Systems. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 445. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60609-5_8

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