WR 3 is a Wolf-Rayet star located around 9,500 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia.
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cassiopeia |
| Right ascension | 01h 38m 55.62715s[1] |
| Declination | +58° 09′ 22.67182″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 10.69[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Evolutionary stage | Wolf-Rayet |
| Spectral type | WN3-hw[3] |
| U−B color index | −0.86[2] |
| B−V color index | +0.02[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Radial velocity (Rv) | 100.00[4] km/s |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: −4.061±0.063[5] mas/yr Dec.: −1.422±0.072[5] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.3131 ± 0.0412 mas[5] |
| Distance | 2,900+520 −390[6] pc |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −3.13[3] |
| Details | |
| Mass | 15[3] M☉ |
| Radius | 2.48[3] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 363,000[3] L☉ |
| Temperature | 89,100[3] K |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
WR 3 is a member of the nitrogen sequence of WR stars and has a spectrum with strong HeII and NV lines, but weak NIV. HeI lines are very weak or missing, but there are lines of OVI. Unusually, there are lines of hydrogen and absorption components in many lines creating P Cygni profiles. The emission is weaker overall than stars of similar spectral type, and it has often been suggested that WR 3 has a type O binary companion. However, there are no other signs of a companion and it is thought to be a single star with a spectral type of WN3-hw. The "h" and "w" indicate that hydrogen is present and the emission is relatively weak for its class.[7][8]
Ordered by right ascension, WR 3 was the third star in the Sixth Catalogue of galactic Wolf-Rayet stars. WR 1 and WR 2 are also both early WN stars in Cassiopeiae.[9]
WR 3 is a massive and luminous star. The presence of hydrogen in its spectrum suggests that it is younger than hydrogen-free WR stars and may still be in the process of ejecting the remainder of its hydrogen. The emission lines of heavy elements in its spectrum are produced by strong convection and powerful stellar winds rather than complete loss of the outer layers of the star.[10] The wind has been measured at 2,700 km/s leading to mass being lost at four millionths M☉ per year.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b Van Leeuwen, F. (2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653–664. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357. S2CID 18759600.
- ^ a b c Ducati, J. R. (2002). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Catalogue of Stellar Photometry in Johnson's 11-color system". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues. 2237. Bibcode:2002yCat.2237....0D.
- ^ a b c d e f g Sota, A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Morrell, N. I.; Barbá, R. H.; Walborn, N. R.; Gamen, R. C.; Arias, J. I.; Alfaro, E. J.; Oskinova, L. M. (2019). "The Galactic WN stars revisited. Impact of Gaia distances on fundamental stellar parameters". Astronomy & Astrophysics. A57: 625. arXiv:1904.04687. Bibcode:2019A&A...625A..57H. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201834850. S2CID 104292503.
- ^ Kharchenko, N. V.; Scholz, R.-D.; Piskunov, A. E.; Röser, S.; Schilbach, E. (2007). "Astrophysical supplements to the ASCC-2.5: Ia. Radial velocities of ˜55000 stars and mean radial velocities of 516 Galactic open clusters and associations". Astronomische Nachrichten. 328 (9): 889. arXiv:0705.0878. Bibcode:2007AN....328..889K. doi:10.1002/asna.200710776. S2CID 119323941.
- ^ a b c Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616. A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
- ^ Crowther, Paul A.; Rate, Gemma (2020). "Unlocking Galactic Wolf–Rayet stars with Gaia DR2 – I. Distances and absolute magnitudes". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 493 (1): 1512–1529. arXiv:1912.10125. Bibcode:2020MNRAS.493.1512R. doi:10.1093/mnras/stz3614. S2CID 209444955.
- ^ Hiltner, W. A.; Schild, R. E. (1966). "Spectral Classification of Wolf-Rayet Stars". Astrophysical Journal. 143: 770. Bibcode:1966ApJ...143..770H. doi:10.1086/148556.
- ^ Marchenko, S. V.; Moffat, A. F. J.; Crowther, P. A.; Chené, A.-N.; De Serres, M.; Eenens, P. R. J.; Hill, G. M.; Moran, J.; Morel, T. (2004). "Hydrogen in the atmosphere of the evolved WN3 Wolf-Rayet star WR 3: Defying an evolutionary paradigm?" (PDF). Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 353 (1): 153–161. Bibcode:2004MNRAS.353..153M. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2004.08058.x.
- ^ Van Der Hucht, Karel A.; Conti, Peter S.; Lundström, Ingemar; Stenholm, Björn (1981). "The Sixth Catalogue of galactic Wolf-Rayet stars, their past and present". Space Science Reviews. 28 (3): 227–306. Bibcode:1981SSRv...28..227V. doi:10.1007/BF00173260. S2CID 121477300.
- ^ Smith, Nathan; Conti, Peter S. (2008). "On the Role of the WNH Phase in the Evolution of Very Massive Stars: Enabling the LBV Instability with Feedback". The Astrophysical Journal. 679 (2): 1467–1477. arXiv:0802.1742. Bibcode:2008ApJ...679.1467S. doi:10.1086/586885. S2CID 15529810.