A hot white dwarf merger remnant revealed by an ultraviolet detection of carbon

Atmospheric carbon has been detected in the optical spectra of six hydrogen-rich ultra-massive white dwarfs, revealing large carbon abundances (log(C/H) > −0.5) attributable to the convective dredge-up of internal carbon into thin hydrogen surface layers. These rare white dwarfs likely originate from stellar mergers, making them ‘smoking guns’ for one of the binary evolution channels leading to thermonuclear supernovae. However, optical spectroscopy can uncover only the most carbon-enriched objects, suggesting that many more merger remnants may masquerade as normal pure-hydrogen-atmosphere white dwarfs. Here we report the discovery of atmospheric carbon in a Hubble Space Telescope far-ultraviolet spectrum of WD 0525+526, a long-known hydrogen-rich ultra-massive white dwarf. The carbon abundance (log(C/H) = −4.62) is 4–5 dex lower than in the six counterparts and thus detectable only at ultraviolet wavelengths. We find that the total masses of hydrogen and helium in the envelope (10−13.8 and 10−12.6 of the total white dwarf mass, respectively) are substantially lower than those expected from single-star evolution, implying that WD 0525+526 is a merger remnant. Our modelling indicates that the low surface carbon abundance arises from an envelope structure in which a thin hydrogen-rich layer floats atop a semi-convection zone—a process that has been largely overlooked in white dwarfs. Our study highlights the importance of ultraviolet spectroscopy in identifying and characterizing merger remnants. Ultraviolet observations of an ultra-massive white dwarf with the Hubble Space Telescope reveal small amounts of carbon on the surface, identifying it as a merger remnant.