Wolf-Rayet Colliding Wind Binaries

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: White, Ryan M. T., Tuthill, Peter
Format: Preprint
Published: 2024
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author White, Ryan M. T.
Tuthill, Peter
author_facet White, Ryan M. T.
Tuthill, Peter
contents Wolf-Rayet stars embody the final stable phase of the most massive stars immediately before their evolution is terminated in a supernova explosion. They are responsible for some of the most extreme and energetic phenomena in stellar physics, driving fast and dense stellar winds that are powered by extraordinarily high mass-loss rates arising from their near Eddington limit luminosity. When found in binary systems comprised of two hot wind-driving components, a colliding wind binary (CWB) is formed, manifesting dramatic observational signatures from the radio to X-rays. Among the wealth of rare and exotic phenomenology associated with CWBs, perhaps the most unexpected is the production of copious amounts of warm dust. A necessary condition seems to be one binary component being a carbon-rich WR star -- providing favorable chemistry for dust nucleation from the wind -- however a detailed understanding of the physics underlying this phenomenon has not been established.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2412_12534
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Wolf-Rayet Colliding Wind Binaries
White, Ryan M. T.
Tuthill, Peter
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
Wolf-Rayet stars embody the final stable phase of the most massive stars immediately before their evolution is terminated in a supernova explosion. They are responsible for some of the most extreme and energetic phenomena in stellar physics, driving fast and dense stellar winds that are powered by extraordinarily high mass-loss rates arising from their near Eddington limit luminosity. When found in binary systems comprised of two hot wind-driving components, a colliding wind binary (CWB) is formed, manifesting dramatic observational signatures from the radio to X-rays. Among the wealth of rare and exotic phenomenology associated with CWBs, perhaps the most unexpected is the production of copious amounts of warm dust. A necessary condition seems to be one binary component being a carbon-rich WR star -- providing favorable chemistry for dust nucleation from the wind -- however a detailed understanding of the physics underlying this phenomenon has not been established.
title Wolf-Rayet Colliding Wind Binaries
topic Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2412.12534