2016ApJ...818..117L -
Astrophys. J., 818, 117 (2016/February-3)
An apparent precessing helical outflow from a massive evolved star: evidence for binary interaction.
LAU R.M., HANKINS M.J., HERTER T.L., MORRIS M.R., MILLS E.A.C. and RESSLER M.E.
Abstract (from CDS):
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, τp∼ 1.4x104 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.
Abstract Copyright:
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Journal keyword(s):
binaries: close - dust, extinction - ISM: jets and outflows - stars: massive - stars: mass-loss
CDS comments:
Source WMD 54 is 2MASS J18510295-0058242 in SIMBAD.
Simbad objects:
12
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