Astronomy:WD 0346+246

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Short description: White dwarf in the constellation Taurus
WD 0346+246
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0   Equinox (celestial coordinates)
Constellation Taurus
Right ascension  03h 46m 46.508s[1]
Declination +24° 56′ 02.82″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 19.0[1]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: 547[1] mas/yr
Dec.: -1182[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)36 ± 5[1] mas
Distanceapprox. 90 ly
(approx. 28 pc)
Details
Mass0.77[2] M
Radius0.011 ± 0.001[3] R
Temperature3,800 ± 100[3] K
Age11 - 12 [3] Gyr
Other designations
WD 0346+246, WD J0346+249[1]
Database references
SIMBADdata

WD 0346+246 is a white dwarf in the ecliptic constellation of Taurus. It was discovered in 1997 when examination of photographs taken for a survey of brown dwarfs in the Pleiades revealed a faint star with high proper motion. It is one of the coolest white dwarfs known, with an effective temperature estimated to be approximately 3900 K equaling to a spectral type of M0.[4]

Recent studies using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope and MDM Observatory's 2.4-meter telescope (near Tucson, Arizona, USA) shows that this white dwarf (together with another one: SDSS J110217, 48+411315.4) has a low (for white dwarfs) surface temperature between 3700 and 3800 K due to it being 11 to 12 billion years old. [3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 "WD 0346+246". SIMBAD. Centre de données astronomiques de Strasbourg. http://simbad.u-strasbg.fr/simbad/sim-basic?Ident=WD+0346%2B246. 
  2. Kilic, Mukremin; Thorstensen, John R.; Kowalski, P. M.; Andrews, J. (2012). "11-12 Gyr old white dwarfs 30 pc away". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 423 (1): L132–L136. doi:10.1111/j.1745-3933.2012.01271.x. Bibcode2012MNRAS.423L.132K. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/12_Billion_Year_Old_White_Dwarf_Stars_Only_100_Light_Years_Away_999.html
  4. WD 0346+246: A Very Low Luminosity, Cool Degenerate in Taurus, N. C. Hambly, S. J. Smartt, and S. Hodgkin, Astrophysical Journal Letters 489 (November 1997), pp. L157–L160.