Program: GN-2009B-Q-51

The aim of the Degenerate Objects around Degenerate Objects (DODO) survey is to search for very low mass brown dwarfs and extrasolar planets in wide orbits around white dwarfs via direct imaging. The direct detection of such companions would allow the spectroscopic investigation of objects with temperatures much lower (< 500 K) than the coolest brown dwarfs currently observed. The discovery of planets around white dwarfs would prove that such objects can survive the final stages of stellar evolution and place constraints on the frequency of planetary systems around their progenitors (with masses of 1.5-8 solar masses, i.e., early B to mid-F). Such a system would be a post-main sequence analogue of the recently imaged HR8799 planetary system. Unfortunately, the original sample of ~40 targets from the DODO survey did not uncover any common proper motion companions. Therefore, we propose to double the sample by obtaining deep, near infrared observations (J ~ 22.5 mag) of a new selection of targets to continue our search for common proper motion planetary mass companions (~7-10 Jupiter masses) to white dwarfs.