Do Wolf-Rayet stars have similar locations in hosts as type Ib/c supernovae and long gamma-ray bursts?
G. Leloudas, J. Sollerman, A. J. Levan, J. P. U. Fynbo, D. Malesani, J. R. Maund
备注：
The previous version was accepted (March 31). This version contains minor changes (during language editing and proofs) to match the published version (August 26)
Aims: We study the distribution of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars and their subtypes with respect to their host galaxy light distribution. We thus want to investigate whether WR stars are potential progenitors of stripped-envelope core-collapse supernovae (SNe) and/or long-duration gamma-ray bursts (LGRBs). Methods: We derived the relative surface brightness (fractional flux) at the locations of WR stars and compared with similar results for LGRBs and SNe. We examined two nearby galaxies, M 83 and NGC 1313, for which a comprehensive study of the WR population exists. These two galaxies contain a sufficiently large number of WR stars and sample different metallicities. To enable the comparison, the images of the galaxies were processed to make them appear as they would look at a higher redshift. The robustness of our results against several sources of uncertainty was investigated with the aid of Monte Carlo simulations. Results: We find that the WC star distribution favours brighter pixels than the WN star population. WC stars are more likely drawn from the same distribution as SNe Ic than from other SN distributions, while WN stars show a higher degree of association with SNe Ib. It can also not be excluded that WR (especially WC) stars are related to LGRBs. Some differences between the two galaxies do exist, especially in the subtype distributions, and may stem from differences in metallicity. Conclusions: Although a conclusive answer is not possible, the expectation that WR stars are the progenitors of SNe Ib/c and LGRBs survives this test. The trend observed between the distributions of WN and WC stars, as compared to those of SNe Ib and Ic, is consistent with the theoretical picture that SNe Ic result from progenitors that have been stripped of a larger part of their envelope.
Fast rotating Wolf-Rayet stars are expected to be progenitors of long duration gamma-ray bursts. However, the observational test of this model is problematic. Spectral lines of Wolf-Rayet stars originate in expanding stellar wind, therefore a reliable spectroscopical determination of their rotational velocities is difficult. Intrinsic polarization of Wolf-Rayet stars due to the rotational modulation of the stellar wind may provide an indirect way to determine the rotational velocities of these stars. However, detailed wind models are required for this purpose. We determine the intrinsic polari…
The observed late-type WC Wolf-Rayet stars (WC7-9) with low luminosity below $\rm \log L/L_{\odot} < 5.4$ in the HR diagram cannot be reproduced satisfactorily by the evolutionary track of single stars. The mass transfer due to Roche lobe overflow drastically modifies the internal structure and surface compositions of two components. Therefore, binaries provide a very promising evolutionary channel to produce these WC stars.
The emission line spectra of WR stars are often formed completely in the optically thick stellar wind. Hence, any assumption on the wind velocity law in a spectral analysis has a profound impact on the determination of the stellar parameters. By comparing Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model spectra calculated with different $β$ laws, we show that the velocity field heavily influences the spectra: by using the appropriate $β$ laws, the entire range of late and early types can be covered with the same stellar model.
Wolf-Rayet stars are amongst the rarest but also most intriguing massive stars. Their extreme stellar winds induce famous multi-wavelength circumstellar gas nebulae of various morphologies, spanning from circles and rings to bipolar shapes. This study is devoted to the investigation of the formation of young, asymmetric Wolf-Rayet gas nebulae and we present a 2.5-dimensional magneto-hydrodynamical toy model for the simulation of Wolf-Rayet gas nebulae generated by wind-wind interaction. Our method accounts for stellar wind asymmetries, rotation, magnetisation, evolution and mixing of materials…
Mid-infrared photometry of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 38030 in the Large Magellanic Cloud from the NEOWISE-R mission show it to have undergone a dust-formation episode in 2018 and the dust to have cooled in 2019-20. New spectroscopy with the MagE spectrograph on the Magellan I Baade Telescope in 2019 and 2020 show absorption lines attributable to a companion of type near O9.7III-IV. We found a significant shift in the radial velocity of the C IV 5801-12 blend compared with the RVs measured in 1984 and 1993. The results combine to suggest that HD 38030 is a colliding-wind binary having short-lived …
A Study of Wolf-Rayet stars Formed via Chemically Homogeneous Evolution
利用恒星演化程序-恒星天体物理实验模块（MESA），研究了具有不同自转速度和金属丰度的大质量恒星向Wolf-Rayet星的演化.在我们的模拟中，初始旋转速度取为0，250，500和650 km s $^{-1}$，金属丰度等于0.02，0.014，0.008，0.006，0.004和0.002。我们在HR图中显示了我们的快速旋转模型与观测结果的比较。我们发现在高金属丰度时，旋转混合的效率较低，当中心的氦被点燃时，这些恒星成为Wolf-Rayet（WR）星。然而，快速旋转的低金属丰度大质量恒星很容易演化成WR星，因为旋转导致了化学均匀的演化。这可以解释低金属丰度星系中单个WR星的起源。在我们的模型中，观测到的SMC WR星与单星演化模型是一致的。然而，在更高的金属丰度，我们的单星演化模型只能解释发光，富氢的WN星和O星（以前被归类为WR星）。
It is now well established that the majority of massive stars reside in multiple systems. However, the effect of multiplicity is not sufficiently understood, resulting in a plethora of uncertainties about the end stages of massive-star evolution. In order to investigate these uncertainties, it is useful to study massive stars just before their demise. Classical Wolf-Rayet stars represent the final end stages of stars at the upper-mass end. The multiplicity fraction of these stars was reported to be ${\sim}0.4$ in the Galaxy but no correction for observational biases has been attempted. The aim…
Wolf-Rayet stars are advanced evolutionary stages of massive stars. Despite their large mass-loss rates and high wind velocities, none of them display a bow shock, although a fraction of them are classified as runaway. Our 2.5-D numerical simulations of circumstellar matter around a 60Mo runaway star show that the fast Wolf-Rayet stellar wind is released into a wind-blown cavity filled with various shocks and discontinuities generated throughout the precedent evolutionary phases. The resulting fast-wind slow-wind interaction leads to the formation of spherical shells of swept-up dusty material…
WR~102-1 was detected by Suzaku as a conspicuous point source in the 6.7 keV intensity map of the central region of the Milky Way. The source was suggested as a possible Wolf-Rayet binary based on its X-ray and infrared spectral characteristics. The iron line emission is expected to originate in the Wolf-Rayet star's dynamic stellar-wind when colliding the companion's mild stellar wind. Here, we report the result of a long-term X-ray monitoring of WR~102-1 since 1998 using archival data of ASCA, XMM-Newton, Chandra, Suzaku, and Swift to reveal variations of the iron K-emission line and the cir…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are massive ($\geq$10 M$_{\odot}$) evolved stars undergoing advanced nuclear burning in their cores, rapidly approaching the end of their lives as supernovae. Their powerful winds enrich the interstellar medium with heavy elements, providing raw material for future generations of stars. We briefly summarize high-energy processes in WR stars, focusing mainly on their X-ray emission. We present new results from Chandra observations of the eclipsing WR+O binary CQ Cep covering a full orbit which stringently test X-ray emission models.
The massive evolved Wolf-Rayet stars sometimes occur in colliding-wind binary systems in which dust plumes are formed as a result of the collision of stellar winds. These structures are known to encode the parameters of the binary orbit and winds. Here, we report observations of a previously undiscovered Wolf-Rayet system, 2XMM J160050.7-514245, with a spectroscopically determined wind speed of $\approx$3400 km s$^{-1}$. In the thermal infrared, the system is adorned with a prominent $\approx$12$''$ spiral dust plume, revealed by proper motion studies to be expanding at only $\approx$570 km s$…
