Spectroscopy of TOI-1259B: an unpolluted white dwarf companion to an inflated warm Saturn

Evan Fitzmaurice, David V. Martin*, Romy Rodriguez Martinez, Patrick Vallely, Alexander P. Stephan, Kiersten M. Boley, Rick Pogge, Kareem El-Badry, Vedad Kunovac, Amaury H. M. J. Triaud

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

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Abstract

TOI-1259 consists of a transiting exoplanet orbiting a main sequence star, with a bound outer white dwarf companion. Less than a dozen systems with this architecture are known. We conduct follow-up spectroscopy on the white dwarf TOI-1259B using the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) to better characterise it. We observe only strong hydrogen lines, making TOI-1259B a DA white dwarf. We see no evidence of heavy element pollution, which would have been evidence of planetary material around the white dwarf. Such pollution is seen in ~ 25 - 50% of white dwarfs, but it is unknown if this rate is higher or lower in TOI-1259-like systems that contain a known planet. Our spectroscopy permits an improved white dwarf age measurement of 4.05 (+1.00 -0.42) Gyrs, which matches gyrochronology of the main sequence star. This is the first of an expanded sample of similar binaries that will allow us to calibrate these dating methods and provide a new perspective on planets in binaries.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)636-641
Number of pages6
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Volume518
Issue number1
Early online date10 Oct 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2023

Bibliographical note

6 pages, accepted to MNRAS, minor revision of first arXiv version

Keywords

  • astro-ph.EP
  • astro-ph.SR

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