English

Characterization of the Most Luminous Star in M33: A Super Symbiotic Binary

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics 2015-06-23 v2 Astrophysics of Galaxies

Abstract

We present the first spectrum of the most luminous infrared star in M33, and use it to demonstrate that the object is almost certainly a binary composed of a massive O star and a dust-enshrouded Red Hypergiant. This is the most luminous symbiotic binary ever discovered. Its radial velocity is an excellent match to that of the hydrogen gas in the disk of M33, supporting our interpretation that it is a very young and massive binary star.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1412.6120,
  title  = {Characterization of the Most Luminous Star in M33: A Super Symbiotic Binary},
  author = {Joanna Mikolajewska and Nelson Caldwell and Michael M. Shara and Krystian Ilkiewicz},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1412.6120},
  year   = {2015}
}

Comments

17 pages, 2 figures, to appear in ApJL