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Paper: The Search for White Dwarfs in the Kepler Field
Volume: 469, 18th European White Dwarf Workshop (EUROWD12)
Page: 223
Authors: Greiss, S.; Gänsicke, B.; Hermes, J. J.; Steeghs, D. T. H.; Barclay, T.; Ramsay, G.; Townsley, D.
Abstract: The Kepler mission provides superior time-series photometry, with an enormous impact on all areas of stellar variability. It is therefore a crucial tool for asteroseismology. However, white dwarfs remain an unexploited class of sources within the field. We make use of our deep optical survey of the field, the Kepler-INT Survey, to search for white dwarfs on the basis of their colours. In order to exploit Kepler's unprecedented time-series photometry, we search more specifically for pulsating hydrogen-rich (DA) white dwarfs, or ZZ Ceti variables. Asteroseismology has the potential to probe the electron-degenerate cores of those stars, which is impossible via spectroscopy of their atmospheres. We present the discovery of the second, third and fourth ZZ Cetis in the Kepler field. Our results corroborate our selection method in the search for white dwarfs and more specifically ZZ Cetis. We expect to find around a dozen ZZ Cetis in the Kepler field.
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