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Title: AN APPARENT PRECESSING HELICAL OUTFLOW FROM A MASSIVE EVOLVED STAR: EVIDENCE FOR BINARY INTERACTION

Abstract

Massive, evolved stars play a crucial role in the metal enrichment, dust budget, and energetics of the interstellar medium; however, the details of their evolution are uncertain because of their rarity and short lifetimes before exploding as supernovae. Discrepancies between theoretical predictions from single-star evolutionary models and observations of massive stars have evoked a shifting paradigm that implicates the importance of binary interaction. We present mid- to far-infrared observations from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy of a conical “helix” of warm dust (∼180 K) that appears to extend from the Wolf–Rayet star WR102c. Our interpretation of the helix is a precessing, collimated outflow that emerged from WR102c during a previous evolutionary phase as a rapidly rotating luminous blue variable. We attribute the precession of WR102c to gravitational interactions with an unseen compact binary companion whose orbital period can be constrained to 800 days < P < 1400 days from the inferred precession period, τ{sub p} ∼ 1.4 × 10{sup 4} yr, and limits imposed on the stellar and orbital parameters of the system. Our results concur with the range of orbital periods (P ≲ 1500 days) where spin-up via mass exchange is expected to occur for massive binary systems.

Authors:
; ;  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Astronomy Department, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801 (United States)
  2. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Los Angeles, 430 Portola Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (United States)
  3. National Radio Astronomy Observatory, P.O. Box O 1009, Lopezville Drive, Socorro, NM 87801 (United States)
  4. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22521542
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Astrophysical Journal
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 818; Journal Issue: 2; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ASTRONOMY; ENRICHMENT; GRAVITATIONAL INTERACTIONS; INTERSTELLAR GRAINS; INTERSTELLAR SPACE; JETS; LIFETIME; MASS TRANSFER; PRECESSION; SPIN; STAR EVOLUTION; STELLAR WINDS; VARIABLE STARS; WOLF-RAYET STARS

Citation Formats

Lau, R. M., Hankins, M. J., Herter, T. L., Morris, M. R., Mills, E. A. C., and Ressler, M. E. AN APPARENT PRECESSING HELICAL OUTFLOW FROM A MASSIVE EVOLVED STAR: EVIDENCE FOR BINARY INTERACTION. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/117.
Lau, R. M., Hankins, M. J., Herter, T. L., Morris, M. R., Mills, E. A. C., & Ressler, M. E. AN APPARENT PRECESSING HELICAL OUTFLOW FROM A MASSIVE EVOLVED STAR: EVIDENCE FOR BINARY INTERACTION. United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/117
Lau, R. M., Hankins, M. J., Herter, T. L., Morris, M. R., Mills, E. A. C., and Ressler, M. E. 2016. "AN APPARENT PRECESSING HELICAL OUTFLOW FROM A MASSIVE EVOLVED STAR: EVIDENCE FOR BINARY INTERACTION". United States. https://doi.org/10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/117.
@article{osti_22521542,
title = {AN APPARENT PRECESSING HELICAL OUTFLOW FROM A MASSIVE EVOLVED STAR: EVIDENCE FOR BINARY INTERACTION},
author = {Lau, R. M. and Hankins, M. J. and Herter, T. L. and Morris, M. R. and Mills, E. A. C. and Ressler, M. E.},
abstractNote = {Massive, evolved stars play a crucial role in the metal enrichment, dust budget, and energetics of the interstellar medium; however, the details of their evolution are uncertain because of their rarity and short lifetimes before exploding as supernovae. Discrepancies between theoretical predictions from single-star evolutionary models and observations of massive stars have evoked a shifting paradigm that implicates the importance of binary interaction. We present mid- to far-infrared observations from the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy of a conical “helix” of warm dust (∼180 K) that appears to extend from the Wolf–Rayet star WR102c. Our interpretation of the helix is a precessing, collimated outflow that emerged from WR102c during a previous evolutionary phase as a rapidly rotating luminous blue variable. We attribute the precession of WR102c to gravitational interactions with an unseen compact binary companion whose orbital period can be constrained to 800 days < P < 1400 days from the inferred precession period, τ{sub p} ∼ 1.4 × 10{sup 4} yr, and limits imposed on the stellar and orbital parameters of the system. Our results concur with the range of orbital periods (P ≲ 1500 days) where spin-up via mass exchange is expected to occur for massive binary systems.},
doi = {10.3847/0004-637X/818/2/117},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22521542}, journal = {Astrophysical Journal},
issn = {0004-637X},
number = 2,
volume = 818,
place = {United States},
year = {Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Sat Feb 20 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}