After a brief introduction to white dwarfs and debris disks, I will present observations from the Spitzer Space Telescope and ground-based telescopes of metal-polluted white dwarfs with circumstellar debris disks. Among other things, we measure the constituents of the debris disks, the elemental abundances of the material being accreted, and the accretion timescale. Our measurements support the idea that disruptions of asteroids created these debris disks. Based on the properties of these stars, I interpret the majority of the metal-polluted white dwarfs as resulting from planetary system bodies being ground down during the late stages of stellar evolution.

Academic Programs . People . Research Groups and Centers . Activities and Events . Departmental News . Course Web Sites . Department and University Info . Athens Area Info . Links of Interest . H O M E