2014MNRAS.445.1663Z -
Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc., 445, 1663-1678 (2014/December-1)
A multiwavelength view on the dusty Wolf-Rayet star WR 48a.
ZHEKOV S.A., TOMOV T., GAWRONSKI M.P., GEORGIEV L.N., BORISSOVA J., KURTEV R., GAGNE M. and HAJDUK M.
Abstract (from CDS):
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 ∼ 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 ({dot}M ~a few ×10^-4 M☉/yr). 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.
Abstract Copyright:
© 2014 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society (2014)
Journal keyword(s):
stars: distances - stars: individual: WR 48a - stars: mass-loss - stars: Wolf-Rayet - radio continuum: stars - X-rays: stars
Simbad objects:
33
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