Related papers: The Massive Wolf-Rayet Binary SMC WR7

We report the first-ever discovery of a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star in the Large Magellanic Cloud via detection of a circular shell with the Spitzer Space Telescope. Follow-up observations with Gemini-South resolved the central star of the shell…

We present XMM-Newton observations of the WC binary Theta Muscae (WR 48), the second brightest Wolf-Rayet binary in optical wavelengths. The system consists of a short-period (19.1375 days) WC5/WC6 + O6/O7V binary and possibly has an…

There is growing evidence that a treatment of binarity amongst OB stars is essential for a full theory of stellar evolution. However the binary properties of massive stars - frequency, mass ratio and orbital separation - are still poorly…

Since the discovery, with the EINSTEIN satellite, of strong X-ray emission associated with HD93162 (=WR25), this object has been predicted to be a colliding-wind binary system. However, radial-velocity variations that would prove the…

For the past three years we have been conducting a survey for WR stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC, SMC). Our previous work has resulted in the discovery of a new type of WR star in the LMC, which we are calling WN3/O3.…

We present the results of a spectroscopic investigation of two novel variable bright blue stars in the SMC, OGLE004336.91-732637.7 (SMC-SC3) and the periodically occulted star OGLE004633.76-731204.3 (SMC-SC4), whose photometric properties…

Classical Wolf-Rayet stars are descendants of massive OB-type stars that have lost their hydrogen-rich envelopes, and are in the final stages of stellar evolution, possibly exploding as type Ib/c supernovae. It is understood that the…

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…

Massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars dominate the radiative and mechanical energy budget of galaxies and probe a critical phase in the evolution of massive stars prior to core-collapse. It is not known whether core He-burning WR stars (classical…

We present multiwavelength broadband photometry and V, I time resolved photometry for two variable bright stars in the SMC, OGLE004336.91-732637.7 (SMC-SC3) and OGLE004633.76-731204.3 (SMC-SC4). The light curves span 12 years and show…

BAT99-129 in the LMC is one among a handful of extra-galactic eclipsing Wolf-Rayet binaries known. We present blue, medium-resolution, phase-dependent NTT-EMMI spectra of this system that allow us to separate the spectra of the two…

We present the results of optical wavelength observations of the unusual SMC eclipsing binary system HD 5980 obtained in 1999 and 2004--2005. Radial velocity curves for the erupting LBV/WR object (star A) and its close WR-like companion…

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is the nearest low-metallicity dwarf galaxy. Its proximity and low reddening has enabled us to detect its Wolf-Rayet (WR) star population with 12 known objects. Quantitative spectroscopy of the stars…

The Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) hosts 12 known Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, seven of which are apparently single. Their formation is a challenge for current stellar evolution models because line-driven winds are generally assumed to be quenched…

We present the results of a four-month, spectroscopic campaign of the Wolf-Rayet dust-making binary, WR137. We detect only small-amplitude, random variability in the CIII5696 emission line and its integrated quantities (radial velocity,…

We measure transverse proper motion velocities of LMC Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars using Gaia DR3 astrometry. The combined velocity distribution of WNh, O If*/WN, and WNL very massive stars ($>100\ M_\odot$; VMS) shows both slow, unejected objects…

The spin of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars at low metallicity (Z) is most relevant for our understanding of gravitational wave sources such as GW 150914, as well as the incidence of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Two scenarios have been…

Context. The variability of the Wolf-Rayet star EZ CMa has been documented for close to half a century, and a clear periodicity of $\sim$3.7 days is established. However, all attempts to prove that it is a binary have failed because the…

The Wolf-Rayet star WR 46 is known to exhibit a very complex variability pattern on relatively short time scales of a few hours. Periodic but intermittent radial velocity shifts of optical lines as well as multiple photometric periods have…

BAT99-129 is a rare, short-period eclipsing Wolf-Rayet binary in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We present here medium-resolution NTT/EMMI spectra that allow us to disentangle the spectra of the two components and find the orbital parameters…