Extrapolating from the solar system's asteroid belt, we propose that externally contaminated white dwarfs without an infrared excess may be experiencing continuous accretion of gas-phase material that is ultimately derived from the tidal destruction of multiple small asteroids. If this scenario is correct, then observations of metal-polluted white dwarfs may lead to determination of the bulk elemental compositions of ensembles of extrasolar minor planets.
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M. Jura (2008) studied this question.
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