Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2004-05-18
Astrophys.J. 611 (2004) L33-L36
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
13 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in ApJL
Scientific paper
10.1086/423671
We present a high-precision I-band light curve for the Wolf-Rayet binary WR 20a, obtained as a sub-project of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Rauw et al. have recently presented spectroscopy for this system, strongly suggesting extremely large minimum masses of 70.7 +/- 4.0 Mo and 68.8 +/- 3.8 Mo for the component stars of the system, with the exact values depending strongly on the period of the system. We detect deep eclipses of about 0.4 mag in the light curve of WR 20a, confirming and refining the suspected period of P=3.686 days and deriving an inclination angle of i=74.5 +/- 2 deg. Using these photometric data and the radial velocity data of Rauw et al., we derive the masses for the two components of WR 20a to be 83.0 +/- 5.0 Mo and 82.0 +/- 5.0 Mo. Therefore, WR 20a is confirmed to consist of two extremely massive stars and to be the most massive binary known with an accurate mass determination.
Bonanos Alceste Zoe
Kubiak Mateo M. M.
Pietrzynski Grzegorz
Soszynski Igor
Stanek Kris Z.
No associations
LandOfFree
WR 20a is an Eclipsing Binary: Accurate Determination of Parameters for an Extremely Massive Wolf-Rayet System does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with WR 20a is an Eclipsing Binary: Accurate Determination of Parameters for an Extremely Massive Wolf-Rayet System, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and WR 20a is an Eclipsing Binary: Accurate Determination of Parameters for an Extremely Massive Wolf-Rayet System will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-365511