Related papers: Wolf-Rayet Colliding Wind Binaries

The majority of core-collapse supernova (CCSN) progenitors are massive stars in multiple systems, and their evolution and final fate are affected by interactions with their companions. These interactions can explain the presence of…

This paper discusses our ongoing efforts to characterize dust-enshrouded Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the radio and infrared. We have used the Very Large Array to measure the broadband radio spectrum of WR stars in suspected binary systems and…

The stellar winds of massive stars show large changes in mass-loss rates and terminal velocities during their evolution from O-star through the Luminous Blue Variable phase to the Wolf-Rayet phase. The luminosity remains approximately…

Wolf-Rayet stars have been detected in a large number of galaxies experiencing intense bursts of star formation. All stars initially more massive than a certain, metallicity-dependent, value are believed to experience the Wolf-Rayet phase…

The massive, luminous Population I Wolf-Rayet stars can be considered as stars with the highest known sustained mass loss rates. Around 10% of WR stars may form carbon-rich dust in their dense and inhomogeneous winds. Though we are yet to…

(abridged) The strong winds of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are important for the mechanical and chemical feedback of the most massive stars and determine whether they end their lives as neutron stars or black holes. In this work we investigate…

Gamma-ray observations of young star clusters have recently provided evidence for particle acceleration occurring at stellar wind termination shocks, fueled by the mechanical energy of stellar winds from massive stars. In this work, we…

Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are significant contributors of carbonaceous dust to the galactic environment, however the mechanisms and conditions for formation and subsequent evolution of dust around these stars remain open questions.…

We review the observational evidence for dust formation in Wolf-Rayet binary systems and in Type II Supernova ejecta. Existing theoretical models describing the condensation of solids in carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet stars and in Supernovae close…

We quantify the rapid variations in X-ray brightness ("flares") from the extremely massive colliding wind binary Eta Carinae seen during the past three orbital cycles by RXTE. The observed flares tend to be shorter in duration and more…

Wolf-Rayet stars (WRs) represent the end of a massive star's life as it is about to turn into a supernova. Obtaining complete samples of such stars across a large range of metallicities poses observational challenges, but presents us with…

Wolf-Rayet stars represent one of the final stages of massive stellar evolution. Relatively little is known about this short-lived phase and we currently lack reliable mass, distance, and binarity determinations for a representative sample.…

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the evolutionary phases of very massive stars prior to the final supernova explosion stage. These stars lose substantial mass during WN and WC stages. The mass losses are associated with diverse elemental and…

Classical Wolf-Rayet stars are the descendants of massive OB stars that have lost their hydrogen envelopes and are burning helium in their cores prior to exploding as type Ib/c supernovae. The mechanisms for losing their hydrogen envelopes…

The recently discovered colliding-wind binary (CWB) Apep has been shown to emit luminously from radio to X-rays, with the emission driven by a binary composed of two Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars of one carbon-sequence (WC8) and one…

We have recently proposed that supercritical colliding wind binaries (SCWBs) are suitable scenarios for particle acceleration and nonthermal radiation. In these X-ray binary systems (XRBs), the wind from the companion star collides with the…

Some hot, massive, population-I Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars of the carbon subclass are known to be prolific dust-producers. How dust can form in such a hostile environment remains a mystery. Here we report the discovery of a relatively cool,…

Massive stars blow powerful stellar winds throughout their evolutionary stages from the main sequence to Wolf-Rayet phases. The amount of mechanical energy deposited in the interstellar medium by the wind from a massive star can be…

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are luminous massive blue stars thought to be immediate precursors to the supernova terminating their brief lives. The existence of dust shells around such stars has been enigmatic since their discovery some 30 years…

An increasing number of early-type (O and Wolf-Rayet) colliding wind binaries (CWBs) is known to accelerate particles up to relativistic energies. In this context, non-thermal emission processes such as inverse Compton (IC) scattering are…