The long-period spectroscopic orbit and dust creation in the Wolf-Rayet binary system WR 125

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Main Authors: Richardson, Noel D., Daly, Andrea R., Williams, Peredur M., Hill, Grant M., Shenavrin, Victor I., Endo, Izumi, Chené, André-Nicolas, Karnath, Nicole, Lau, Ryan M., Moffat, Anthony F. J., Weigelt, Gerd
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author Richardson, Noel D.
Daly, Andrea R.
Williams, Peredur M.
Hill, Grant M.
Shenavrin, Victor I.
Endo, Izumi
Chené, André-Nicolas
Karnath, Nicole
Lau, Ryan M.
Moffat, Anthony F. J.
Weigelt, Gerd
author_facet Richardson, Noel D.
Daly, Andrea R.
Williams, Peredur M.
Hill, Grant M.
Shenavrin, Victor I.
Endo, Izumi
Chené, André-Nicolas
Karnath, Nicole
Lau, Ryan M.
Moffat, Anthony F. J.
Weigelt, Gerd
contents Several long-period binaries with a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star and an O star produce dust in their wind collisions. In eccentric binaries, this is seen most strongly near periastron passage. The exact conditions leading to dust creation require orbital properties to be determined, which is difficult owing to their long periods. Recently, the binary system WR 125 (WC7+O9III) began a dust creation episode seen through an infrared outburst first detected by NEOWISE-R, which was the first outburst detected since 1991. We present new near- and mid-infrared photometry, which we use to show consistency between the two outbursts and derive an orbital period of 28.12$^{+0.10}_{-0.05}$ yr. We use a long time-series of optical spectra to place the first constraints on its orbital elements, on the assumption that this system will produce dust near periastron. The orbit has a mild eccentricity of 0.29$\pm$0.12 and is only derived for the Wolf-Rayet component, as the O star's radial velocities have noise that is likely larger than the expected semi-amplitude of the orbit. We also present SOFIA/FORCAST grism spectroscopy to examine the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) of the dust during this outburst, comparing its properties to other WCd binaries, deriving a dust temperature of 580 K in 2021. This collection of observations will allow us to plan future observations of this system and place the system in the context of dust-creating Wolf-Rayet binaries.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2405_10454
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle The long-period spectroscopic orbit and dust creation in the Wolf-Rayet binary system WR 125
Richardson, Noel D.
Daly, Andrea R.
Williams, Peredur M.
Hill, Grant M.
Shenavrin, Victor I.
Endo, Izumi
Chené, André-Nicolas
Karnath, Nicole
Lau, Ryan M.
Moffat, Anthony F. J.
Weigelt, Gerd
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Several long-period binaries with a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star and an O star produce dust in their wind collisions. In eccentric binaries, this is seen most strongly near periastron passage. The exact conditions leading to dust creation require orbital properties to be determined, which is difficult owing to their long periods. Recently, the binary system WR 125 (WC7+O9III) began a dust creation episode seen through an infrared outburst first detected by NEOWISE-R, which was the first outburst detected since 1991. We present new near- and mid-infrared photometry, which we use to show consistency between the two outbursts and derive an orbital period of 28.12$^{+0.10}_{-0.05}$ yr. We use a long time-series of optical spectra to place the first constraints on its orbital elements, on the assumption that this system will produce dust near periastron. The orbit has a mild eccentricity of 0.29$\pm$0.12 and is only derived for the Wolf-Rayet component, as the O star's radial velocities have noise that is likely larger than the expected semi-amplitude of the orbit. We also present SOFIA/FORCAST grism spectroscopy to examine the infrared spectral energy distribution (SED) of the dust during this outburst, comparing its properties to other WCd binaries, deriving a dust temperature of 580 K in 2021. This collection of observations will allow us to plan future observations of this system and place the system in the context of dust-creating Wolf-Rayet binaries.
title The long-period spectroscopic orbit and dust creation in the Wolf-Rayet binary system WR 125
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.10454