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WD 1054-226 revisited: A stable transiting debris system

Korth, J. LU ; Mustill, A.~J. LU orcid ; Parviainen, H. ; Villaver, E. ; Kuehne, J.~W. ; Béjar, V.~J.~S. ; Hayashi, Y. ; Abreu Garcia, N. ; Kagetani, T. and Kawauchi, K. , et al. (2026) In Astronomy & Astrophysics 709. p.27-27
Abstract
Context. A growing number of white dwarfs (WDs) exhibit one or more signs of remnant planetary systems, including transits, infrared excesses, and atmospheric metal pollution. WD 1054-226 stands out for its unique, highly structured, and persistent photometric variability.
Aims. We investigate the long-term stability and nature of the periodic signals observed in WD 1054-226 to better understand the origin and evolution of its transiting material.
Methods. We analysed all available TESS light curves from Sectors 9, 36, 63, and 90 using Lomb–Scargle, box-least-squares, and Gaussian process periodogram analyses. We complemented them with multi-band, high-cadence ground-based photometry from LCOGT, MuSCAT2, ALFOSC, and ProEM to test... (More)
Context. A growing number of white dwarfs (WDs) exhibit one or more signs of remnant planetary systems, including transits, infrared excesses, and atmospheric metal pollution. WD 1054-226 stands out for its unique, highly structured, and persistent photometric variability.
Aims. We investigate the long-term stability and nature of the periodic signals observed in WD 1054-226 to better understand the origin and evolution of its transiting material.
Methods. We analysed all available TESS light curves from Sectors 9, 36, 63, and 90 using Lomb–Scargle, box-least-squares, and Gaussian process periodogram analyses. We complemented them with multi-band, high-cadence ground-based photometry from LCOGT, MuSCAT2, ALFOSC, and ProEM to test for a colour dependence and confirm the periodicities.
Results. We confirm the persistence of the previously reported 25.01 h and 23.1 min periodicities over a six-year baseline. The 25.01 h signal shows some temporal evolution, while the 23.1 min dips are highly coherent on long timescales. The previously reported transient 11.4 h feature was only detected in early TESS sectors and is absent in recent data. No significant colour dependence is found in the ground-based observations.
Conclusions. The stability of the 25.01 h and 23.1 min signals indicates a long-lived, dynamically sculpted debris structure around WD 1054-226. The lack of a colour dependence implies a high optical depth, consistent with an opaque, edge-on debris ring rather
han an optically thin dust population. This makes WD 1054-226 a key laboratory for testing models of remnant planetary systems around WDs (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
techniques: photometric, stars: individual: WD 1054-226, white dwarfs, Earth and Planetary Astrophysics, Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
in
Astronomy & Astrophysics
volume
709
pages
27 - 27
publisher
EDP Sciences
ISSN
1432-0746
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/202558102
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
101636b6-70e3-4e01-8343-9759657354ce
date added to LUP
2026-05-11 15:41:41
date last changed
2026-05-13 02:55:20
@article{101636b6-70e3-4e01-8343-9759657354ce,
  abstract     = {{Context. A growing number of white dwarfs (WDs) exhibit one or more signs of remnant planetary systems, including transits, infrared excesses, and atmospheric metal pollution. WD 1054-226 stands out for its unique, highly structured, and persistent photometric variability.<br/>Aims. We investigate the long-term stability and nature of the periodic signals observed in WD 1054-226 to better understand the origin and evolution of its transiting material.<br/>Methods. We analysed all available TESS light curves from Sectors 9, 36, 63, and 90 using Lomb–Scargle, box-least-squares, and Gaussian process periodogram analyses. We complemented them with multi-band, high-cadence ground-based photometry from LCOGT, MuSCAT2, ALFOSC, and ProEM to test for a colour dependence and confirm the periodicities.<br/>Results. We confirm the persistence of the previously reported 25.01 h and 23.1 min periodicities over a six-year baseline. The 25.01 h signal shows some temporal evolution, while the 23.1 min dips are highly coherent on long timescales. The previously reported transient 11.4 h feature was only detected in early TESS sectors and is absent in recent data. No significant colour dependence is found in the ground-based observations.<br/>Conclusions. The stability of the 25.01 h and 23.1 min signals indicates a long-lived, dynamically sculpted debris structure around WD 1054-226. The lack of a colour dependence implies a high optical depth, consistent with an opaque, edge-on debris ring rather<br/> han an optically thin dust population. This makes WD 1054-226 a key laboratory for testing models of remnant planetary systems around WDs}},
  author       = {{Korth, J. and Mustill, A.~J. and Parviainen, H. and Villaver, E. and Kuehne, J.~W. and Béjar, V.~J.~S. and Hayashi, Y. and Abreu Garcia, N. and Kagetani, T. and Kawauchi, K. and Livingston, L. and Mori, M. and Morello, G. and Watanabe, N. and Fukuda, I. and Ikuta, K. and Bonilla-Mariana, I. and Esparza-Borges, E. and Fernández-Rodriguez, G. and Fukui, A. and Geraldia-González, S. and González-Rodriguez, J. and Isogai, K. and Narita, N. and Palle, E. and Peláez-Torres, A. and Sánchez-Benavente, M.}},
  issn         = {{1432-0746}},
  keywords     = {{techniques: photometric; stars: individual: WD 1054-226; white dwarfs; Earth and Planetary Astrophysics; Solar and Stellar Astrophysics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{04}},
  pages        = {{27--27}},
  publisher    = {{EDP Sciences}},
  series       = {{Astronomy & Astrophysics}},
  title        = {{WD 1054-226 revisited: A stable transiting debris system}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202558102}},
  doi          = {{10.1051/0004-6361/202558102}},
  volume       = {{709}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}