Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Gaia has substantially expanded the sample of candidate white dwarfs (WDs) in open clusters, but many remain without spectroscopic characterization. We leverage the increasingly extensive archives of large public spectroscopic surveys to identify 62 candidate cluster WDs with available spectra from DESI, LAMOST, and SDSS. After discarding sources with very low S/N and unreliable host clusters, 44 candidates remain, including 37 non-magnetic DA WDs, of which 15 had not previously been characterized in the literature for cluster studies. We find that nine are consistent with single-star origins in their proposed host clusters, increasing the combined cluster DA initial--final mass relation (IFMR) sample to 132 WDs. All lie within $2σ$ of the best-fit IFMR from the most comprehensive recent cluster WD sample, suggesting these additions do not require recalibrating the empirical IFMR. One is a likely Hyades tidal-tail WD, providing further evidence that dynamical dispersal helps explain the long-standing WD deficit in the nearest cluster. We further compare WDs with spectra from multiple surveys. Among seven Praesepe WDs observed by both DESI and SDSS, DESI gives higher WD masses in six cases, with a mean difference of $0.067\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$, while the inferred progenitor masses differ by as much as $0.459\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$. More broadly, nine of ten single-star cluster DAs with DESI spectra lie above the empirical IFMR, with a mean final-mass residual of $0.06\pm0.04\,\mathrm{M}_\odot$. These results show that survey-dependent differences can strongly affect cluster WD parameters, and should be considered when combining heterogeneous spectroscopy in empirical IFMR studies.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Yale University, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Ohio State University, California Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, New Mexico State University, Space Telescope Science Institute, European Space Agency, Flatiron Health, European Commission, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, National Natural Science Foundation of China, University of Toronto, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Yunnan University, Nanjing University, China National Textile and Apparel Council, Leibniz-Institut für Astrophysik Potsdam, Max-Planck-Institut für Astronomie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Office of Science, University of Colorado Boulder, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Leibniz-Gemeinschaft, National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Division of Astronomical Sciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Awards: G1044631029, G1079818582, G1143651532, G1286236842, G1681707065, G1813527838, G1863003419, G2433378248, G4061288673, G419881185, G42916606, G4501827968, G498139845, G4998900716, G5004724115, G526230902, G5287069595, G6652958823, G6876926712, G704498496, G7146827954, Management and Operations of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, G7350863329, G7354628648
OpenAlex ID: W7221814521