Binary White Dwarf Mergers and Underluminous Supernovae
Abstract
Short period binary white dwarfs may merge within a Hubble time due to gravitational wave radiation. We have begun a targeted survey to find merging white dwarfs systems, and our first results have tripled the number of known merging white dwarf systems. Our sample includes systems with orbital periods as short as 1 hr and with merger times less than 100 Myr. We will discuss the characteristics of
this merger sample and potential links to Type Ia and underluminous supernovae.- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #217
- Pub Date:
- January 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AAS...21742302K