Dartmouth Events

Astronomy Seminar - Isabella Trierweiler, Yale

Title: Chemodynamical insights into exoplanetary debris from polluted white dwarfs

6/8/2026
2:30 pm – 3:30 pm
Wilder 115 and Zoom
Intended Audience(s): Public
Categories: Lectures & Seminars, School of Arts and Sciences

Title: Polluted white dwarf stars offer a unique way to study the bulk compositions of exoplanetary material. At the same time, their stellar and planetary companions tell us about the dynamical evolution that shapes post-main sequence exoplanets. In this talk I will share two examples of compositional and dynamical insights gained from surveys of polluted white dwarfs. First, I will discuss trends in water abundances, inferred from measurements of excess O in these systems, and their implications for testing the prevalence of water-rich material across exoplanet systems. Second, I will focus on one potential avenue for the accretion of water-rich material: perturbations from a stellar companion to the white dwarf. Using binary stellar systems from Gaia, I will discuss how common this mechanism might be and how it impacts overall differences between pollution on single versus binary white dwarfs.

Hosted By Professor Elisabeth Newton 

Zoom Meeting Link: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/j/93069806358

For more information, contact:
Samantha Marcotte
samantha.j.marcotte@dartmouth.edu
Permanent URL to this event: https://physics.dartmouth.edu/events/event?event=81551

Events are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.