Loading...
Please wait, while we are loading the content...
On the Formation of Close Binary White Dwarfs
| Content Provider | Scilit |
|---|---|
| Author | Iben, Icko Webbink, Ronald F. |
| Copyright Year | 1989 |
| Description | Single stars of initial main-sequence mass larger than about $0.8-1.0_{⊙}$ and less than approximately $6-8M_{⊙}$ evolve into carbon-oxygen white dwarfs of mass in the range $0.55-1.1M_{⊙}$ in less than the Hubble time. Single stars do not make helium white dwarfs in a Hubble time. These statements are based on both observational and theoretical considerations. It is not yet established, but there are suspicions that single stars of initial mass in the range $8-10M_{⊙}$ may evolve into oxygen-neon white dwarfs of mass in the range $1.1-1.4M_{⊙}$. As a single star of the appropriate initial mass develops a hot, electron-degenerate core composed of carbon and oxygen or of oxygen and neon, it becomes large (R > $200R_{⊙}$) and luminous (L > $6000L_{⊙}$), with the luminosity being generated most of the time by hydrogen burning, interrupted quasiperiodically by a helium shell flash. The star is said to be an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. Within $10^{5}$ - $10^{6}$yr after arriving on the AGB, an envelope instability, whose nature is still being explored observationally and theoretically, leads to the ejection of most of the hydrogen-rich envelope of the star. The remnant shortly becomes the central star of a planetary nebula composed of the ejected material, and then cools into a white dwarf configuration. |
| Related Links | https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/EF1AA70D9DA8A3F577096106B73F0BE0/S0252921100100120a.pdf/div-class-title-on-the-formation-of-close-binary-white-dwarfs-div.pdf |
| Ending Page | 491 |
| Page Count | 15 |
| Starting Page | 477 |
| ISSN | 02529211 |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0252921100100120 |
| Journal | International Astronomical Union Colloquium |
| Volume Number | 114 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
| Publisher Date | 1989-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | International Astronomical Union Colloquium Astronomy and Astrophysics White Dwarfs Single Stars |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
