Two white dwarfs with oxygen-rich atmospheres
arXiv:0911.2246 · doi:10.1126/science.1180228
Abstract
Stars with masses in the range 7-10Msun end their lives either as massive white dwarfs or weak type II supernovae, and there are only limited observational constraints of either channel. Here we report the detection of two white dwarfs with large photospheric oxygen abundances, implying that they are bare oxygen-neon cores and that they may have descended from the most massive progenitors that avoid core-collapse.
Accepted by Science, first published online on November 12, 2009 in Science Express. Main Science article and Supporting Online Material combined in one file