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Size Limits on Tidal Debris around White Dwarfs: The Kilometer-size Barrier

  • Authors: Jordan K. Steckloff, Dimitri Veras, Kathryn Volk

Jordan K. Steckloff et al 2026 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 1004 .

  • Provider: AAS Journals

Caption: Figure 3.

Change in fragment orbital velocity upon splitting as a function of astrocentric distance and minimum cohesive strength. We assume a 0.6 M mass white dwarf. We use the vis-viva equation to compute the fractional changes in the velocity of the fragments, which tend to be very small (on the order of 1 part per million). These tiny changes suggest that the fragments will remain in nearly identical orbits.

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