Characterizing White Dwarf Planetary Systems with JWST

The launch of JWST has ushered in a truly unique time for the detection of planetary systems around white dwarfs, a hitherto nearly uncharted wavelength range for the large majority of nearby white dwarfs. Since 25-50% of all white dwarfs show evidence for complex planetary systems due to the pollution of their atmospheres from rocky material, they are a potentially rich population to survey in the mid-IR, where cool dust and cool exoplanets are detectable through direct imaging or against the faint photospheres of their host stars. By understanding the demographics of white dwarf planetary systems, we understand the fate of our solar system and access very cool planets hard to see around main sequence stars.