Mapping Convection Using Pulsating White Dwarf Stars

We demonstrate how pulsating white dwarfs can be used as an astrophysical laboratory for empirically constraining convection in these stars. We do this using a technique for fitting observed non-sinusoidal light curves, which allows us to recover the thermal response timescale of the convection zone (its “depth”) as well as how this timescale changes as a function of effective temperature. We also obtain mode identifications for the pulsation modes, allowing us to use asteroseismology to study the interior structure of these stars.