The kinematics of white dwarfs from the SDSS DR12.

We use the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release 12, which is the largest available white dwarf catalogue to date, to study the evolution of the kinematical properties of the population of white dwarfs of the Galactic disk. We derive masses, ages, photometric distances and radial velocities for all white dwarfs with hydrogen-rich atmospheres. For those stars for which proper motions from the USNO-B1 catalogue are available, the three-dimensional components of the velocity are obtained. This subset of the original sample comprises 20,247 stars, making it the largest sample of white dwarfs with measured three-dimensional velocities. The volume probed by our sample is large, allowing us to obtain relevant kinematical information. In particular, our sample extends from a Galactocentric radial distance R _G = 7.8 to 9.3 kpc, and vertical distances from the Galactic plane ranging from Z = +0.5 to –0.5 kpc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]