Related papers: Are Wolf-Rayet winds driven by radiation?
CONTEXT: Very massive stars pass through the Wolf-Rayet (WR) stage before they finally explode. Details of their evolution have not yet been safely established, and their physics are not well understood. Their spectral analysis requires…
The hot WN star WR2 (HD6327) has been claimed to have many singular characteristics. To explain its unusually rounded and relatively weak emission line profiles, it has been proposed that WR2 is rotating close to break-up with a…
We review the properties of carbon-sequence ([WC]) Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe). Differences between the subtype distribution of [WC] stars and their massive WC cousins are discussed. We conclude that [WO]-type…
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…
Because most massive stars have been or will be affected by a companion during the course of their evolution, we cannot afford to neglect binaries when discussing the progenitors of supernovae and GRBs. Analyzing linear polarization in the…
In this paper we present Complete Stellar models (CoStar) for massive stars, which treat the stellar interior and atmosphere, including its wind. Particular emphasis is given to Wolf-Rayet stars. We address the question of the effective…
Many Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars have optically thick winds that cloak the hydrostatic layers of the underlying star. In these cases, traditional spectral analysis methods are plagued by degeneracies that make it difficult to constrain parameters…
Most population I Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the He-rich descendants of the most massive stars (M_i = 25 - 100 M_sun). Evidence has been accumulating over the years that among all pop I WR stars, those of the relatively cool, N-rich subtype…
Recent observations of Wolf-Rayet (WR) binaries WR151 and WR155 infer that their stellar winds are asymmetric. We show that such asymmetries can alter the stellar-wind bubble structure, bringing the wind-termination shock closer to the WR…
Radiation-driven winds heavily influence the evolution and fate of massive stars. Feedback processes from these winds impact the properties of the interstellar medium of their host galaxies. The dependence of mass loss on stellar properties…
Nearly all types of massive stars with radiatively driven stellar winds are X-ray sources that can be observed by the presently operating powerful X-ray telescopes. In this review I briefly address recent advances in our understanding of…
The theory of radiatively driven winds successfully explains the key points of the stellar winds of hot massive stars. However, there is an apparent break-down of this paradigm at L/Lsun<5.2: the stellar wind momentum is smaller than…
The favoured progenitors of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are rapidly rotating Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. However, most Galactic WR stars are slow rotators, as stellar winds are thought to remove angular momentum. This poses a challenge…
Based on 1) a conjecture about the mean free path for particle scattering in perpendicular shock geometries, and 2) a model for Wolf Rayet star winds, we argue that explosions of Wolf Rayet stars can lead through diffusive particle…
The evolutionary scenario of early-type nitrogen-sequence Wolf-Rayet (WNE) stars predicts a slowly rotating subclass that typically forms after the red supergiant (RSG) phase. Their slow rotation rates are attributed to stellar winds that…
A growing number of Galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, in particular WC and transitional WN/C (WNC) objects, have been reported at comparatively low luminosities. If confirmed, these low-luminosity WR stars provide stringent tests of…
Massive stars have strong stellar winds that direct their evolution through the upper Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and determine the black hole mass function. Secondly, wind strength dictates the atmospheric structure that sets the ionising…
We have spectroscopically discovered a pair of twin, nitrogen-type, hydrogen-rich, Wolf-Rayet stars (WN8-9h) that are both surrounded by circular, mid-infrared-bright nebulae detected with the Spitzer Space Telescope and MIPS instrument.…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are evolved massive stars, presumably on their way to becoming supernova. They are characterized by high luminosities and fast and dense stellar winds. We have detected signs of a radio continuum pinwheel associated…
We use radiation-hydrodynamical simulations to investigate the formation and synthetic X-ray emission of hot bubbles within planetary nebulae (PNe) driven by the powerful winds of H-deficient, [Wolf-Rayet]([WR])-type stars. Our models,…