Princeton University Thunch Talk
New populations of white dwarfs revealed by Gaia
Data from the Gaia satellite are revolutionizing many fields of astronomy. I will present two discoveries about white dwarfs: one is an extreme cooling anomaly that produces a mysterious branch on the HR diagram, and the other is the existence of merger products among single white dwarfs. The former poses a challenge for our understanding of white dwarf physics, and the latter has implications for binary evolution and type-Ia supernovae.
Date & Time
March 17, 2022 | 12:15pm – 1:15pm
Location
Hybrid Zoom and Grand Central PeytonSpeakers
Sihao Cheng
Affiliation
Johns Hopkins University