Infrared Excesses around Bright White Dwarfs from Gaia and unWISE. I.

Abstract

Studies of excess infrared radiation around white dwarfs provide important constraints on the evolution of planetary systems and low-mass companions beyond the main-sequence stage. In this paper series, we focus on identifying and characterizing bright white dwarfs with an infrared excess. Here, we present 188 infrared excess candidates from Gaia and unWISE, 147 of which are new discoveries. Further characterization of this sample can significantly increase the current list of white dwarf debris disks and white dwarfs with low-mass companions.