Indonesian Students Club

View Full Calendar

White Dwarf UV Analysis with HST

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Astronomy
Location
134 Astronomy Building
Virtual
wifi event
Date
May 6, 2024   12:00 - 1:00 pm  
Speaker
Aidan Berres
Contact
Daniel Franco
E-Mail
danielf9@illinois.edu
Phone
217-300-6769
Views
4
Originating Calendar
Astronomy Journal Club

We have spectrophotometrically fit a sample of faint DA-class White Dwarf (DAWD) stars in the Milky Way using a combination of both space-based Ultraviolet (UV) and ground-based Optical spectral data and optical photometry. Our results were built upon work using models of faint DAWD stars as spectrophotometric standards for telescope calibrations. These previous works were done with spectra in the optical regime, since DAWD stars' Spectral Energy Distributions (SED) are easy to model with optical data. We have identified and fulfilled the need to extend these models to shorter wavelengths to understand their precision in this regime.  Taking advantage of observations of DAWD stars that have been previously modeled with sub-percent accuracy using photometric and optical spectral data, as well as our novel UV spectra, we explain how we have extended our resulting models to shorter wavelengths. We explain the accuracy of our results by comparing our fit parameters with pre-existing optical only models. Furthermore, we explain the accuracy of our individual SED models by comparing integrated synthetic photometry with relevant survey observations of the same DAWD stars. In addition, we identify how our UV informed results impact measurements of dust extinction in the Milky Way Interstellar Medium (ISM). These findings will inform the community on the accuracy and feasibility of extending DAWD SED modeling into the UV regime and provide insights into how these models interact with dust extinction in shorter wavelengths.

link for robots only