Related papers: An Orbit for a Massive Wolf-Rayet Binary in the LM…
Using the Very Large Telescope's Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observation in the Near-Infrared (VLT/SINFONI), we have obtained repeated AO-assisted, NIR spectroscopy of the six central luminous, Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the core of the…
Infrared imaging of the colliding-wind binary Apep has revealed a spectacular dust plume with complicated internal dynamics that challenges standard colliding-wind binary physics. Such challenges can be potentially resolved if a…
We present the results of an intensive photometric and spectroscopic monitoring campaign of the WN4 Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR1=HD4004. Our broadband V photometry covering a timespan of 91 days shows variability with a period of…
Aims. We present an in-depth study of the two components of the binary system LZCep in order to constrain the effects of binarity on the evolution of massive stars. Methods. We use a set of high-resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio…
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…
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…
Context. A significant number of the Wolf-Rayet stars seem to be binary or multiple systems, but the nature of many of them is still unknown. Dedicated monitoring of WR stars favours the discovery of new systems. Aims. We explore the…
Some of the Wolf-Rayet stars are found to have very high bolometric luminosities (more than 1000000 solar). We employ the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmospheres for their spectral analysis, which yields the bolometric corrections.…
Here we examine 12 Galactic clusters and OB associations containing Wolf-Rayet stars (W-Rs) and/or Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), in order to assess the progentor masses of these evolved massive stars. We find that in the Milky Way,…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the evolved descendants of massive O-type stars and are considered to be progenitor candidates for Type Ib/c core-collapse supernovae (SNe). Recent results of our HST/WFC3 survey of Wolf-Rayet stars in M101 are…
We present the first visual orbit for the nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet binary, WR 133 (WN5o + O9I) based on observations made with the CHARA Array and the MIRC-X combiner. This orbit represents the first visual orbit for a WN star and only the…
Towards the end of their evolution hot massive stars develop strong stellar winds and appear as emission line stars, such as WR stars or LBVs. The quantitative description of the mass loss in these important pre-SN phases is hampered by…
Context. Oxygen sequence Wolf-Rayet (WO) stars represent a very rare stage in the evolution of massive stars. Their spectra show strong emission lines of helium-burning products, in particular highly ionized carbon and oxygen. The…
Grids of models of massive stars ($M \ge$ 20 $M_\odot$) with rotation are computed for metallicities $Z$ ranging from that of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) to that of the Galactic Centre. The hydrostatic effects of rotation, the…
NGC346-013 is a peculiar double-lined eclipsing binary in the Small Magellanic Cloud discovered by the VLT-FLAMES survey of massive stars. Spectra obtained with VLT-FLAMES are used to construct a radial velocity curve and photometry…
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…
We discovered that the Wolf-Rayet (WR)+OB star binary, WR 104, renowned for its associated "dusty pinwheel nebula" recently spatially resolved with infrared interferometry, exhibits strong quasi-periodic optical variations with a full…
Most massive stars reside in multiple systems that will interact over the course of their lifetime. Classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars represent the final end stages of stellar evolution at the upper-mass end. As part of a homogeneous,…
Infrared photometry of the probable triple WC4(+O?)+O8I: Wolf-Rayet system HD 36402 (= BAT99-38) in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) shows emission characteristic of heated dust. The dust emission is variable on a time-scale of years, with…
WR 31a (Hen 3-519) is likely a post-luminous blue variable (LBV) star that is evolving to become a classical Wolf-Rayet star. Multicolor (UBVR) photopolarimetric observations of WR 31a were obtained over nine nights in early 2007. The…