PROBING WOLF–RAYET WINDS: CHANDRA/HETG X-RAY SPECTRA OF WR 6
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, 70 Vassar St., Cambridge, MA 02139 (United States)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242 (United States)
- Institut für Physik und Astronomie, Universität Potsdam, Karl-Liebknecht-Str. 24/25, D-14476 Potsdam (Germany)
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN 37614 (United States)
- Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden St., MS 34, Cambridge, MA 02138 (United States)
- European Space Agency, ESAC, Apartado 78, E-28691 Villanueva de la Cañada (Spain)
With a deep Chandra/HETGS exposure of WR 6, we have resolved emission lines whose profiles show that the X-rays originate from a uniformly expanding spherical wind of high X-ray-continuum optical depth. The presence of strong helium-like forbidden lines places the source of X-ray emission at tens to hundreds of stellar radii from the photosphere. Variability was present in X-rays and simultaneous optical photometry, but neither were correlated with the known period of the system or with each other. An enhanced abundance of sodium revealed nuclear-processed material, a quantity related to the evolutionary state of the star. The characterization of the extent and nature of the hot plasma in WR 6 will help to pave the way to a more fundamental theoretical understanding of the winds and evolution of massive stars.
- OSTI ID:
- 22521804
- Journal Information:
- Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 815, Issue 1; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0004-637X
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
CHANDRA HETG OBSERVATIONS OF THE COLLIDING STELLAR WIND SYSTEM WR 147
WR 110: A SINGLE WOLF-RAYET STAR WITH COROTATING INTERACTION REGIONS IN ITS WIND?