White Dwarf (WD) mergers are a very active field of research within the astronomy community, and simulations of these events is an ever-growing body of work. While WD mergers themselves are fascinating, it is also interesting to consider the post-merger object and its evolution. A rare, enigmatic class of variable stars known as the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are currently understood to be an evolutionary phase of these post-WD-merger objects. The goal of our group’s recent work has been to garner further evidence that RCB stars are formed from WD mergers, and further characterize the peculiarities of these stars. In this talk, I’ll present the ever-growing list of traits that make RCBs unique, as well as what we know about a WD merger that could create such an object.
Events
White Dwarf (WD) mergers are a very active field of research within the astronomy community, and simulations of these events is an ever-growing body of work. While WD mergers themselves are fascinating, it is also interesting to consider the post-merger object and its evolution. A rare, enigmatic class of variable stars known as the R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars are currently understood to be an evolutionary phase of these post-WD-merger objects. The goal of our group’s recent work has been to garner further evidence that RCB stars are formed from WD mergers, and further characterize the peculiarities of these stars. In this talk, I’ll present the ever-growing list of traits that make RCBs unique, as well as what we know about a WD merger that could create such an object.