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| Paper: |
The mass distribution of DA white dwarfs |
| Volume: |
11, Confrontation Between Stellar Pulsation and Evolution |
| Page: |
513 |
| Authors: |
Bergeron, P.; Saffer, Rex A.; Liebert, James |
| Abstract: |
An improved, preliminary mass distribution for a large sample of DA white dwarfs is discussed, based on fitting detailed hydrogen-line profiles from CCD spectrophotometry to the predictions of stellar atmosphere models. As found in previous work, the distribution shows a sharp peak with a small dispersion of 0.13 solar mass, but broad tails extend to large and small masses. Nearly 10 percent of the stars have masses low enough that their existence must be ascribed to close binary evolution. The high mass tail includes one object near 1.2 solar mass. The mean mass of the distribution is somewhat lower (near 0.53 solar mass) than found previously; this result has potential consequences for earlier phases of stellar evolution. |
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