The Dust Cloud around the White Dwarf G29-38

Abstract

We present new observations of the white dwarf G 29-38 with the camera (4.5 and 8 microns), photometer (24 microns), and spectrograph (5.5-14 microns) of the Spitzer Space Telescope. This star has an exceptionally large infrared excess amounting to 3% of the bolometric luminosity. The spectral energy distribution has a continuum peak around 4.5 micros and a 9-11 micron emission feature 1.25 times brighter than the continuum. A mixture of amorphous olivine and a small amount of forsterite in an emitting region 1-5 Rsun from the star can reproduce the shape of the 9-11 micron feature. The spectral energy distribution also appears to require amorphous carbon to explain the hot continuum. Our new measurements support the idea that a relatively recent disruption of a comet or asteroid created the cloud.