Velocity Law in the Extended Photosphere of the WN5 Star in the Eclipsing Binary V444 Cygni

An algorithm for the solution of Fredholm's equations of the first kind describing light curves of WR + O binary systems on a set of nonnegative monotonically decreasing convex functions is developed. The algorithm is applied to the narrow-band continuum The λ4244 Ålight curve of the eclipsing binary V444 Cygni (WN5 + O6). Reliable information about the distribution of the linear absorption coefficientα (r) and the velocity law in the extended photosphere of the WN5 star is obtained from the analysis. Recent accurate spectrophotometric estimate of the luminosity ratio of the components in the binary was used to establish the relationship between the two geometrical parameters of the model: the radius of the O6 star and the orbital inclination. It is shown that the flow of matter in the WN5 photosphere is accelerating and that the value of the acceleration is relatively low. The expansion velocity at the distance r ? 3.8R _⊙ (at which_τ4244(r) ? 1) reaches a few hundreds km/s, i.e., the flow at this point is supersonic.     

The massive Wolf–Rayet binary SMC WR7

We present a study of optical spectra of the Wolf–Rayet star AzV 336a (=SMC WR7) in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Our study is based on data obtained at several Observatories between 1988 and 2001. We find SMC WR7 to be a double-lined WN+O6 spectroscopic binary with an orbital period of 19.56 d. The radial velocities of the He absorption lines of the O6 component and the strong He  ii emission at λ 4686 Å of the WN component describe anti-phased orbital motions. However, they show a small phase shift of ∼1 d. We discuss possible explanations for this phase shift. The amplitude of the radial velocity variations of He  ii emission is twice that of the absorption lines. The binary components have fairly high minimum masses, ∼18 and 34 M_⊙ for the WN and O6 components, respectively.     

Analysis of optical and IR light curves of the WR binary V444 Cygni: are clumps still present?

The results of analysis of new broad band U, J, K, photometric observations of WN5+O6 binary V444 Cyg are presented. Comparison to the old optical data of Cherepashchuk et al. (1984) and IR data of Hartmann (1978) shows that the optical light curve is stable over more than 10 years, while the new infrared light curves are significantly different from the Hartmann's ones. The difference between old and new infrared light curves poses a problem for clumpy structure of WR wind proposed by Cherepashchuk et al. as well as for standard smooth flow wind theory.     

Effects of Wind-Wind Collision in Close Binary Stars

Various observational appearences of the effects of wind-wind collision for binary stellar systems have been discovered recently in X-ray, UV, optical, IR and radio ranges. Recent 3D gas-dynamic simulations of the wind-wind collision regions in WR+O, O+O and symbiotic binary systems allow to understand the physics of wind-wind collision effects, provide interpretation of observational data and constrain basic parameters of winds as well as those of binary systems. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Observations of southern Wolf-Rayet stars

The Wolf-Rayet star HD 90657 is found to be a spectroscopic binary with a WN5+O6 spectrum and a period of 6.456 days. Preliminary orbital elements show an elliptic orbit and a mass ratioM _WR/M _o0.5. Evidence is presented for the Wolf-Rayet atmosphere being accelerated outwards and not being spherically symmetric.Operated under an agreement between the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), the Universidad de Buenos Aires and the Comisión Nacional de Estudios Geoheliofísicos.     

Chemical abundances of the WR-ring nebulae NGC 2359 and RCW 78

We report on extensive spectroscopic observations of the WR-ring nebulae NGC 2359 and RCW 78, respectively, excited by the WN5 stars HD 56925 and WN8 HD 117688. For the first object we have determined abundances for O/H, Ne/H, N/H, and He/H in many different positions, including the ionized gas in the bubble, inside the optical shell structure, and the outermost zones associated with the S 298 Hii region. We do not find any significant difference in the N/H and O/H abundances over the entire nebula. The O/H and N/H abundances expected are close to those for a normal Hii region located at similar distance. In the case of He/H we find indication of local enhancements which sum to the abundance of metal rich galactic Hii regions like M17. RCW 78 appears to show slight overabundances of He/H and N/H in the two observed positions.The ionising temperature for the WN central star (HD 56925) of NGC 2359 is determined from the observed Hii region spectrum giving a value of 50000 K, appropriate to its spectral type.     

X-ray Observations of Binary and Single Wolf-Rayet Stars with XMM-Newton and Chandra

We present an overview of recent X-ray observations of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars with XMM-Newton and Chandra. These observations are aimed at determining the differences in X-ray properties between massive WR + OB binary systems and putatively single WR stars. A new XMM spectrum of the nearby WN8 + OB binary WR 147 shows hard absorbed X-ray emission (including the Fe Kα line complex), characteristic of colliding wind shock sources. In contrast, sensitive observations of four of the closest known single WC (carbon-rich) WR stars have yielded only non-detections. These results tentatively suggest that single WC stars are X-ray quiet. The presence of a companion may thus be an essential factor in elevating the X-ray emission of WC + OB stars to detectable levels.     

Spectrophotometric studies of CQ Cephei

Spectrophotometric and spectroscopic observations of CQ Cep — the shortest-period binary with WN component — are presented. Excepting the NV λ4603, the fluxes of all other emission lines show enhancement at minima. They can be explained by the Roche surfaces that take into account the strong wind of the WN7 component. Various radial velocity curves for emission and absorption give different orbital solutions with a general positive shift of λ axes. Although N IV λ4058 represents the true motion of the WN7 component, its flux variations are influenced by geometric effects. There is no signature of the companion. The extent of the atmosphere of CQ Cephei appears larger than in V444Cyg, another eclipsing binary with a Wolf-Rayet component.     

Rapid evolutionary changes in the WR binary HD 5980

Observations of the optical spectrum of the Wolf-Rayet eclipsing binary HD 5980 in the Small Magellanic Cloud show how one component of this binary system unexpectedly underwent an eruption transforming its spectral type from a hot WN3 to a cooler and more luminous WN11 type. Radial velocity analysis of the preoutburst spectra indicates that both components of the binary are massive stars with emission lines in their spectra. The component that erupted is found to be the one in front of the system during the light curve phase zero. Differential analysis of the H Balmer and Heii Pickering emission line strengths indicates that the hydrogen content changes with the cooling of the spectrum. The maximum light of the eruption of HD 5980 had a duration of a few months, but the slow change from a WNE spectrum to WNL type took about 10 years. The similarity of the present spectrum of HD 5980 to the galactic WR binary system WR 12 is noticed.     

A review of early-type close binary systems

This is a review of close binary systems with very early spectral types (B, O, Of, and WR stars). We limit our selection to systems with Roche model photometric solution only. There are 10 contact systems known at present. Three of them (V701 Sco, BH Cen, and RZ Pyx) are located in the vicinity of the zero-age contact (ZC) according to a Spectral Type — Period diagram. Only the first two systems have absolute dimensions available. Both of these fall into the ZC zone in the logP-logm diagram and the logm-logR diagram. The system TU Mus was thought to be a ZC system is located in the evolved contact zone (EC) in the above diagrams. Both V701 Sco and BH Cen were thought to be having mass ratios about unity. With the much improved light curves of BH Cen and new analysis the mass ratio has been revised to 0.84! This result may favor Shu's model for early-type zero-age contact systems. The evolved systems might be undergone Case A mass exchange except for two systems (V729 Cyg and RY Sct) which might be from Case B. The systems V367 Cyg was classified by Plavec as a W Ser system may be a evolved contact system.It is interesting to note that V729 Cyg (O7f+OfIa), UW CMa(O7f+O) and CQ Cep(WN7+O) are all highly evolved contact systems. The Max II of UW CMa and CQ Cep are displaced to 0.78 and 0.80 phase, respectively. The displacement for V729 Cyg is not known due to poor coverage at this phase. The most distinct feature going from Of to Wolf-Rayet stars is the increasing domination of emission lines. It is suspected that this phaseshifts reflect the increasing activity of mass-flow in the common envelope.There are 8 semidetached systems with reliable absolute dimensions. It is believed that 6 of them are derived from Case A while the remaining 2 are from Case B mass exchange.Paper presented at the Lembang-Bamberg IAU Colloquium No. 80, on Double Stars: Physical Properties and Generic Relations, held at Bandung, Indonesia, 3–7 June, 1983.     

On a Bernoulli's integral pertaining to gas flow in close binary systems

A Bernoulli's integral supplemented with the equation of continuity provides a solution for the motion of gas surrounding a binary system.There exist two velocity modes whose streamlines are confined within appropriate equipotential surfaces.     

Optical spectroscopy of XMEGA targets in the Carina Nebula – III. The multiple system Tr 16-104 (≡CPD −59° 2603)

We discuss the orbital elements of the multiple system Tr 16-104 which is usually believed to be a member of the open cluster Trumpler 16 in the Carina complex. We show that Tr 16-104 could be a hierarchical triple system consisting of a short-period (2.15 d) eclipsing O7 V+O9.5 V binary bound to a B0.2 IV star. Our preliminary orbital solution of the third body indicates that the B star most probably describes an eccentric orbit with a period of ∼285 or ∼1341 d around the close binary. Folding photometric data from the literature with our new ephemerides, we find that the light curve of the close binary exhibits rather narrow eclipses indicating that the two O stars must be well inside their Roche lobes. Our analysis of the photometric data yields a lower limit on the inclination of the orbit of the close binary of i ≥77° . The stellar radii and luminosities of the O7 V and O9.5 V stars are significantly smaller than expected for stars of this spectral type. Our results suggest that Tr 16-104 lies at a distance of the order of 2.5 kpc and support a fainter absolute magnitude for zero-age main-sequence O stars than usually adopted. We find that the dynamical configuration of Tr 16-104 corresponds to a hierarchical system that should remain stable provided that it suffers no strong perturbation. Finally, we also report long-term temporal variations of high-velocity interstellar Ca  ii absorptions in the line of sight towards Tr 16-104.     

UBV photometry of the WR binary CQ Cephei

Photoelectric observations of the WR binary CQ Cephei (WN6+O9) are presented. the depths of the eclipses in the light curves are best represented by an inclination of the orbit i = (68°.8±0.6) and the width of the very asymmetric eclipse curves can be represented by only an overcontact configuration (Ω₁ = Ω₂ = 3.65 ± 0.05, and f = 27%). Simultaneous solution of the light and radial velocity curves strongly supports CQ Cep's membership of the Cep OB1 association. By considering this membership we obtained absolute dimensions of the system, which lead to a consistent physical model for CQ Cephei. The more luminous WR primary turns out to be the hotter but slightly less massive component: M_WR = 20.8 M⊙, R_WR = 8.2R⊙, T_eff(WR) = 43600 K, and M_o = 21.4 M⊙, R_o = 8.3 R⊙, T_eff(O) = 37000 K.     

Sample of Wolf-Rayet galaxies from the SLOAN digital sky survey

We have analyzed the spectra of blue compact dwarf galaxies from the SLOAN Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) Data Release 7 and created a sample of 271 galaxies with Wolf-Rayet (WR) spectral features produced by high-velocity stellar winds. A blue WR feature (bump) is a blend of the N V λλ 460.5 and 462.0 nm, N III λλ 463.4 and 464.0 nm, C III λ 465.0 nm, C IV λ 465.8 nm, and He II λ 468.6 nm emission lines. A red WR feature (bump) is the broad C IV λ 580.8 nm emission. The blue WR bump is mainly due to emissions of nitrogen WR (WN) stars, while the red bump is fully produced by emissions of carbon WR (WC) stars. All the sample spectra show the blue WR bumps, whereas the red WR bumps are only identified in 50% of sample spectra. We have derived the numbers of early-type WC stars (WCE) and late-type WN stars (WNL) in the galaxies using the luminosities of single WC and WN stars in the red and blue bumps, respectively. The number of O stars is estimated using the H_β luminosity. The ratio of the overall number of WR stars of different types to the number of all massive stars N(WR)/N(O + WR) decreases with decreasing metallicity, corresponding to the evolution population synthesis models.     

Properties of massive stars in four clusters of the VVV survey

The evolution of massive stars is only partly understood. Observational constraints can be obtained from the study of massive stars located in young massive clusters. The ESO Public Survey “VISTA Variables in the Vía Lácteá (VVV)” discovered several new clusters hosting massive stars. We present an analysis of massive stars in four of these new clusters. Our aim is to provide constraints on stellar evolution and to better understand the relation between different types of massive stars. We use the radiative transfer code CMFGEN to analyse K-band spectra of twelve stars with spectral types ranging from O and B to WN and WC. We derive the stellar parameters of all targets as well as surface abundances for a subset of them. In the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, the Wolf–Rayet stars are more luminous or hotter than the O stars. From the log(C/N)–log(C/He) diagram, we show quantitatively that WN stars are more chemically evolved than O stars, WC stars being more evolved than WN stars. Mass loss rates among Wolf–Rayet stars are a factor of 10 larger than for O stars, in agreement with previous findings.     

The effect of massive binaries on stellar populations and supernova progenitors

We compare our latest single and binary stellar model results from the Cambridge stars code to several sets of observations. We examine four stellar population ratios: the number of blue to red supergiants, the number of Wolf–Rayet stars to O supergiants, the number of red supergiants to Wolf–Rayet stars and the relative number of Wolf–Rayet subtypes, WC to WN stars. These four ratios provide a quantitative measure of nuclear burning lifetimes and the importance of mass loss during various stages of the stars' lifetimes. In addition, we compare our models to the relative rate of Type Ib/c to Type II supernovae to measure the amount of mass lost over the entire lives of all stars. We find reasonable agreement between the observationally inferred values and our predicted values by mixing single and binary star populations. However, there is evidence that extra mass loss is required to improve the agreement further, to reduce the number of red supergiants and increase the number of Wolf–Rayet stars.     

Unsteady mass outflow from Wolf-Rayet stars

We show that hydrostatically equilibrium models for the thin photospheres of helium stars based on new opacities κ_R (OPAL and OP) can be constructed only for masses M<5M _⊙. The parameter Г=κL/4πGMc, defined as the ratio of light pressure to gravity, exceeds a critical value of 1.0 for larger masses, which must result in mass outflow under light pressure. This mass limit matches the observed lower limit for the masses of Wolf-Rayet stars (M _WR>5M _⊙)), which is an additional argument that the Wolf-Rayet stellar cores are actually helium stars. By solving the equation of radiative transfer in extended atmospheres, we construct a semiempirical model for a WN5 star (M _WN5=10M _⊙)) with a helium core and an expanding envelope, whose physical and geometric parameters are known mainly from light-curve solution for the eclipsing binary V444 Cyg (WN5+06): outflow rate $\dot M \approx 1.0 \times 10^{ - 5} M_ \odot yr^{ - 1} $ , terminal velocity V _∞≈2000 km s^?1, and expanding-envelope optical depth τ_env≈25. The temperature at the outer boundary of the photosphere of a helium star surrounded by such an envelope is approximately 130 kK higher than that in the absence of an envelope, being T _ph≈240 kK. Because of the high temperatures, the absorption coefficients at the corresponding photospheric levels are smaller than those in models with no envelope; therefore, the photosphere turns out to be in hydrostatic equilibrium and stable against light pressure (Г_max≈0.9). As a way out of this conflicting situation (an expanding envelope together with a hydrostatically equilibrium photosphere), we propose a model of discrete mass outflow, which is also supported by the observed cloudy structure of the envelopes in this type of stars. To quantitatively estimate parameters of the nonuniform outflow model requires detailed gas-dynamical calculations.     

Colliding stellar winds in WR+O binary systems

Two-dimensional calculations in the model of two colliding stellar winds are provided. The effects of energy losses on free-free emission and Comptonization are investigated. The expected X-ray emission of a typical WR+O binary system is calculated.     

Instability of the 2+2 body problem

The equations of motion of the 2+2 body problem (two interacting particles in the gravitational field of two much more massive primaries m₁ and m₂ in circular keplerian orbit) have an integral analogous to the Jacobi integral of the circular 2+1 body problem. We show here that with 2+2 bodies this integral does not give rise to Hill stability, i.e. to confinement for all time in a portion of the configuration space not allowing for some close approaches to occur. This is because all the level manifolds are connected and all exchanges of bodies between the regions surroundingm ₁,m ₂ and infinity do not contradict the conservation of the integral. However, it is worth stressing that some of these exchanges are physically meaningless, because they involve either unlimited extraction of potential energy from the binary formed by the small bodies (without taking into account their physical size) or significant mutual perturbations between the small masses without close approach, a process requiring, for the Sun-Jupiter-two asteroids system, timescales longer than the age of the Solar System.     

Galactic distribution of WR stars

The recent VIIth Catalogue of Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars lists 227 Population I WR stars, comprising 127 WN, 87 WC, 10 WN/WC and 3 WO stars. Additional discoveries bring the census to 234 WR stars. A re-determination of the optical photometric distances and the galactic distribution of WR stars shows in the solar neighbourhood a projected surface density of 2.7 WR stars per kpc², a N _WC/N _WN number ratio of 1.3, and a WR binary frequency of 40 %.The galactocentric distance (R _WR) distribution per subtype showsR _WN and R _WC decreasing with WN and WC subtypes. This revised version was published online in September 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.