Radio emission from WR140
Abstract
Milliarcsecond resolution Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the archetype WR+O star colliding-wind binary (CWB) system WR140 have been obtained at 23 epochs between orbital phases 0.74 to 0.97. The emission in the wind-collision region (WCR) is resolved as a bow-shaped arc which rotates as the orbital phase progresses. This rotation provides for the first time the inclination of the orbit (122+/-5 degrees), the longitude of the ascending node (353+/-3 degrees), and the orbit semi-major axis (9.0+/-0.5 mas). The implied distance is 1.85+/-0.16 kpc, which requires the O star to be a supergiant, and leads to a wind-momentum ratio of 0.22. Quasi-simultaneous Very Large Array (VLA) observations show the synchrotron spectra evolve dramatically through the orbital phases observed, exhibiting both optically thin and optically thick emission. The optically thin emission maintains a spectral index of -0.5, as expected from diffusive shock acceleration.
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0410211,
title = {Radio emission from WR140},
author = {S. M. Dougherty and A. J. Beasley and M. J. Claussen and B. A. Zauderer and N. J. Bolingbroke},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0410211},
year = {2007}
}
Comments
5 pages, 3 figures (uses asp2004.sty). Contribution to "Massive Stars in Interacting Binaries", Sacacomie, Quebec (Aug 16-20, 2004)