Cygnus X-3 as a benchmark for fundamental properties of Wolf-Rayet stars

Details Cygnus X-3 as a benchmark for fundamental properties of Wolf-Rayet stars Cygnus X-3 as a benchmark for fundamental properties of Wolf-Rayet stars

Mar 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994apj...424l..53c&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 2 - Letters (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 424, no. 1, p. L53-L55

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

45

Emission Spectra, Infrared Spectroscopy, Stellar Winds, Wolf-Rayet Stars, X Ray Sources, Angular Momentum, Bolometers, Ionization, Light Curve, Optical Thickness, Stellar Luminosity

Scientific paper

The recent Infrared (IR) discovery by van Kerkwijk and collaborators of a massive WN7 star in the unusual X-ray source Cyg X-3 has important, direct implications for the properties of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. The short 4.8 hr orbital period leads to a small WR photospheric core radius (less than 3-6 solar radius) with high temperature (greater than 70-90 kK) for a generous range of Population I WR masses, M(WR) approximately 10-50 solar mass. These values are compatible with those expected for a massive helium star, as predicted by evolutionary models. They are in contradiction with most current wind models, which yield larger radii and lower temperatures. It is argued that with Cyg X-3 one is lucky to have caught at least one system during the rapid spiral-in phase of a close WR + compact binary. It may eventually lead to a longer-lived, hence more common Thorne-Zytkov-like object, in which the compact companion has been completely engulfed. Candidates for such bizarre objects are speculated to be the unusual WN8 stars.

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