The MIRI Excess around Degenerates (MEAD) Survey II: A Probable Planet detected via IR Excess around WD 0644+025

TL;DR

The paper addresses whether planetary companions survive white dwarf evolution and how JWST can detect them via infrared excess. The MEAD survey uses JWST MIRI imaging at 10 and 15 μm, complemented by high-resolution optical spectroscopy, to identify and characterize IR excesses and metal pollution around nearby WDs. For WD 0644+025, the 15 μm excess is $7.3\, \sigma$ and the 10 μm excess is $3.6\, \sigma$, consistent with a companion of $6.8\,M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ at $<11.8$ au with $T_{\mathrm{eff}}=261\pm 9$ K, while high-contrast limits exclude $>2\,M_{\mathrm{Jup}}$ beyond ~12 au; metal pollution is confirmed across 1999 and 2025 HIRES spectra with no substantial change in accretion rate. Dust-disk morphologies were explored but traditional debris-disk models struggle to fit the IR excess. Overall, WD 0644+025 illustrates the potential of JWST to reveal cold, distant planetary remnants around white dwarfs, advancing our understanding of planetary system evolution after stellar death.

Abstract

The MIRI Excess Around Degenerates (MEAD) Survey is a cycle 2 JWST program designed to image nearby white dwarfs with MIRI at 10 and 15 microns. This survey targeted 56 white dwarfs within 25 pc to search for mid-infrared excesses, flux deficits from collision-induced absorption, and resolved substellar companions. In this paper we present our analysis of WD 0644+025, an unusually massive white dwarf (0.95 Msun) and the MEAD target exhibiting the most significant mid-infrared excess. The observed JWST MIRI photometry shows a 7.3 sigma excess at 15 microns and a 3.6 sigma excess at 10 microns, which may be associated with either a planetary companion or a circumstellar dust disk. This excess corresponds to a companion mass of 6.8 Mjup (Teff=261 +/- 9 K) with orbital distance <11.8 au, although substantially lower masses are possible if we consider a closely orbiting insolated companion. No spatially resolved sources are detected within 200 au, with contrast curve analysis excluding planets more massive than 2 Mjup beyond ~12 au. Metal pollution is confirmed in both archival Keck HIRES spectra from 1999 and new observations from 2025, with no evidence suggesting the accretion rate has substantially changed over the decades. We explore possible dust disk morphologies to describe the observed IR excess, and find that traditional debris disks struggle to fit our data. WD 0644+025 thus represents a compelling case study in the growing population of white dwarfs with cold infrared excesses, and highlights JWST's ability to probe planetary system remnants inaccessible to prior infrared observatories.

Figures (1)

• Figure 1: A squared-stretch false color image of WD 0644+025, constructed from F1000W (blue), F1500W (red), and a green channel formed from the average of the two bands. The upper panel displays the full MIRI field, and the lower panel shows a magnified view centered on the target. The white circle marks a projected radius of 200 au. No resolved point-source candidates are identified within this region.