PHL 5038AB: Is the brown dwarf causing pollution of its white dwarf host star?
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society(2024)
Abstract
We present new results on PHL 5038AB, a widely separated binary system
composed of a white dwarf and a brown dwarf, refining the white and brown dwarf
parameters and determining the binary separation to be 66^+12_-24 AU. New
spectra of the white dwarf show calcium absorption lines suggesting the
hydrogen-rich atmosphere is weakly polluted, inferring the presence of
planetesimals in the system, which we determine are in an S-type orbit around
the white dwarf in orbits closer than 17-32 AU. We do not detect any infrared
excess that would indicate the presence of a disc, suggesting all dust present
has either been totally accreted or is optically thin. In this system, we
suggest the metal pollution in the white dwarf atmosphere can be directly
attributed to the presence of the brown dwarf companion disrupting the orbits
of planetesimals within the system.
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