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From dust to nanodust: resolving circumstellar dust from the colliding-wind binary Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140

Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140 is the archetypal periodic dust-forming colliding-wind binary that hosts a carbon-rich WR (WC) star and an O-star companion with an orbital period of 7.93 years and an orbital eccentricity of 0.9. Throughout the past several decades, multiple dust-formation episodes from WR 140 h...

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Main Authors: Lau, Ryan (Author) , Wang, Jason (Author) , Hankins, Matthew J. (Author) , Currie, Thayne (Author) , Deo, Vincent (Author) , Endo, Izumi (Author) , Guyon, Olivier (Author) , Han, Yinuo (Author) , Jones, Anthony P. (Author) , Jovanovic, Nemanja (Author) , Lozi, Julien (Author) , Moffat, Anthony F. J. (Author) , Onaka, Takashi (Author) , Ruane, Garreth (Author) , Sander, Andreas A. C. (Author) , Tinyanont, Samaporn (Author) , Tuthill, Peter G. (Author) , Weigelt, Gerd (Author) , Williams, Peredur M. (Author) , Vievard, Sebastien (Author)
Format: Article (Journal)
Language:English
Published: 2023 July 5
In: The astrophysical journal
Year: 2023, Volume: 951, Issue: 2, Pages: 1-21
ISSN:1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/acd4c5
Online Access:Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/acd4c5
Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.14557
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Author Notes:Ryan M. Lau, Jason Wang, Matthew J. Hankins, Thayne Currie, Vincent Deo, Izumi Endo, Olivier Guyon, Yinuo Han, Anthony P. Jones, Nemanja Jovanovic, Julien Lozi, Anthony F.J. Moffat, Takashi Onaka, Garreth Ruane, Andreas A.C. Sander, Samaporn Tinyanont, Peter G. Tuthill, Gerd Weigelt, Peredur M. Williams and Sebastien Vievard
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Summary:Wolf-Rayet (WR) 140 is the archetypal periodic dust-forming colliding-wind binary that hosts a carbon-rich WR (WC) star and an O-star companion with an orbital period of 7.93 years and an orbital eccentricity of 0.9. Throughout the past several decades, multiple dust-formation episodes from WR 140 have been observed that are linked to the binary orbit and occur near the time of periastron passage. Given its predictable dust-formation episodes, WR 140 presents an ideal astrophysical laboratory for investigating the formation and evolution of dust in the hostile environment around a massive binary system. In this paper, we present near- and mid-infrared (IR) spectroscopic and imaging observations of WR 140 with Subaru/SCExAO+CHARIS, Keck/NIRC2+PyWFS, and Subaru/COMICS taken between 2020 June and Sept that resolve the circumstellar dust emission linked to its most recent dust-formation episode in 2016 Dec. Our spectral energy distribution (SED) analysis of WR 140's resolved circumstellar dust emission reveals the presence of a hot ($T_\mathrm{d}\sim1000$ K) near-IR dust component that is co-spatial with the previously known and cooler ($T_\mathrm{d}\sim500$ K) mid-IR dust component composed of $300-500$ {\AA}-sized dust grains. We attribute the hot near-IR dust emission to the presence of nano-sized ("nanodust") grains and suggest they were formed from grain-grain collisions or the rotational disruption of the larger grain size population by radiative torques in the strong radiation field from the central binary. Lastly, we speculate on the astrophysical implications of nanodust formation around colliding-wind WC binaries, which may present an early source of carbonaceous nanodust in the interstellar medium.
Item Description:Gesehen am 14.06.2024
Physical Description:Online Resource
ISSN:1538-4357
DOI:10.3847/1538-4357/acd4c5

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