Program: GN-2011A-Q-58

We propose to obtain spectra for 24 white dwarf candidates suspected to be within 40 parsecs of the Sun, as a continuation of our survey of white dwarfs in the Solar Neighborhood. Spectral analysis will confirm the white dwarf status and provide reliable distance estimates for all objects. The census of nearby white dwarfs is currently complete only to about 20 parsecs of the Sun, a volume which includes only about 130 white dwarfs. Our survey investigates stars down to a much smaller proper motion than earlier studies (40 mas/yr), which minimizes the kinematic bias and provides a statistically complete census of white dwarfs to a significantly larger distance. We have now obtained spectra for 67% of our white dwarf candidates, confirming 137 new white dwarfs. Fifty-seven of them are within 40pc. Our survey has been efficient in locating faint, cool white dwarfs, which will help in the study of the cool end of the white dwarf luminosity function. Finally, objects of great astrophysical interest were found. We expect additional objects of interest to show up in our extended program, from which we expect to obtain a near-complete census of white dwarfs to a distance of 40 parsecs.