A multiwavelength view on the dusty Wolf-Rayet star WR 48a

作者：Zhekov Svetozar A^*; Tomov Toma; Gawronski Marcin P; Georgiev Leonid N; Borissova Jura; Kurtev Radostin; Gagne Marc; Hajduk Marcin

来源：Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2014, 445(2): 1663-1678.

DOI：10.1093/mnras/stu1880

• stars: distances
• stars: individual: WR 48a
• stars: mass-loss
• stars: Wolf-Rayet
• radio continuum: stars
• X-rays: stars

We present results from the first attempts to derive various physical characteristics of the dusty Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR 48a based on a multiwavelength view of its observational properties. This is done on the basis of new optical and near-infrared spectral observations and on data from various archives in the optical, radio and X-rays. The optical spectrum of WR 48a is acceptably well represented by a sum of two spectra: of a WR star of the WC8 type and of a WR star of the WN8h type. The strength of the interstellar absorption features in the optical spectra of WR 48a and the near-by stars D2-3 and D2-7 (both members of the open cluster Danks 2) indicates that WR 48a is located at a distance of similar to 4 kpc from us. WR 48a is very likely a thermal radio source and for such a case and smooth (no clumps) wind its radio emission suggests a relatively high mass-loss rate of this dusty WR star ((M) over dot a few x 10(-4) M-circle dot yr(-1)). Long time-scale (years) variability of WR 48a is established in the optical, radio and X-rays. Colliding stellar winds likely play a very important role in the physics of this object. However, some luminous blue variable like activity could not be excluded as well.

• 出版日期2014-12-1