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Results for “WOLF-RAYET STARS”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

Wolf-Rayet stars in M33.

Twenty-five objects in M33 have been identified as Wolf-Rayet stars on the basis of narrow-band interference-filter photography. Spectra of two of the objects obtained by Lynds have been interpreted as WC5 or 6 +OB. Apparent blue continuum magnitudes range from +17.6 to the plate limit at +19.8 yielding absolute magnitudes in reasonable agreement with the magnitudes of Wolf-Rayet stars in the Magellanic Clouds.

Wray, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1973

UV and radiofrequency observations of Wolf-Rayet stars.

Available spectrometric and photometric observations of Wolf-Rayet stars by the OAO 2 spacecraft in the UV range are discussed along with radio astronomical observations of W stars with symmetrical nebulae around them. The scanned spectrum of the WN5 star HD 50896 between 1200 and 1900 A is illustrated together with the photometered spectrum of the WN6 star HD 192163 from 1330 to 3320 A. RF observations of NGC 6888 around HD 192163 are examined relative to interpretation of the properties of a WN6 star ejecting mass into a nebular shell.

Johnson, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Photoelectric spectrophotometry of Wolf-Rayet stars

Photoelectric spectrum scans of five southern Wolf-Rayet stars in the spectral range lambda lambda 4600-4720 were analyzed to study the variability of brightness and of emission line strengths. No variations of any kind in short time scale were found. However, in WC stars night-to-night variations of three to four percent were detected in the emission line strengths.

Bahng, J. D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Photoelectric spectrophotometry of Wolf-Rayet stars

Photoelectric spectrum scans of five southern Wolf-Rayet stars in the spectral range 4600-4720 A were analyzed to study the variability of brightness and of emission line strengths. No variations of any kind in short time scale were found. However, in WC stars night-to-night variations of 3 to 4 per cent were detected in the emission line strengths.

Bahng, J. D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1971

UV and radiofrequency observations of Wolf-Rayet stars

Observations of W stars in the ultraviolet by OAO 2 and at 750 and 1400 MHz with the Green Bank telescopes are discussed. The emphasis is on the Green Bank observations of W stars with symmetric nebulae around them, their interpretation, and comparisons with other data. The implications regarding mass distribution, internal motion, flux density, ejected mass, velocity dispersion, and expanding envelopes are considered in detail.

Johnson, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Ultraviolet stellar spectra obtained with Skylab Experiment S019

Ultraviolet stellar spectra in the wavelength region from 130 to 500 nm were photographed during the three manned Skylab missions using a 15-cm-aperture objective-prism telescope mounted on the antisolar scientific airlock. Data at wavelengths of 200 nm or shorter were obtained for 1400 stars in 166 fields. Approximately 300 stars show absorption lines of Si IV, C IV, or C II in which the strengths and profiles show striking variations with stellar temperature and luminosity. Numerous weak lines are also observed in supergiant stars, shell stars, peculiar A stars, and Wolf-Rayet stars. Observations of comet Kohoutek show interesting variations in the strength of the OH 3090 A band.

Henize, K. G.↗
NASA NTRS1974

The 90-day report for SL4 experiment S019: UV stellar astronomy

The use of Experiment S019 to obtain moderate dispersion stellar spectra extending down to 1300A with sufficient spectral resolution to permit the study of ultraviolet (UV) line spectra and of spectral energy distributions of early-type stars is studied. Data obtained from this experiment should be of sufficient accuracy to permit detailed physical analysis of individual stars and nebulae, but an even more basic consideration is the expectation of obtaining spectra of a sufficient number of stars so that a statistically meaningful survey may be made of the UV spectra of a wide variety of star types. These should include all luminosity classes of spectral types O, B and A, as well as peculiar stars such as Wolf-Rayet stars and Ap or Am stars. An attempt was also made to obtain, in the no-prism mode, low dispersion UV spectra in a number of Milky Way star fields and in nearby galaxies.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1973

Classification and distribution of WR stars and an interpretation of the WN sequence.

New observational data for Wolf-Rayet stars are interpreted in areas of atmospheric abundances, absolute magnitudes, Galactic distribution, distribution in M33, and bolometric luminosities. The observational data are used in support of arguments (1) that WN stars are helium stars of eight to fourteen solar masses with atmospheres which contain only a very low proportion of hydrogen, (2) that the properties of the stars are very sensitive to this very small amount of hydrogen, and (3) that consequently this structure explains many of the general properties of the subclasses.

Smith, L. F.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Investigation of ultraviolet fluxes of normal and peculiar stars

Data from Project Celescope, a program that photographed the ultraviolet sky, in order to study several problems in current astrophysics are analyzed. Two star clusters, the Pleiades and the Hyades, reveal differences between the two that we are unable to explain simply from their differences in chemical abundance, rotation, or reddening. Data for Orion show large scatter, which appears to be in the sense that the Orion stars are too faint for their ground-based photometry. Similarly, many supergiants in the association Sco OB1 are too faint in the ultraviolet, but the ultraviolet brightness appears to be only poorly correlated with spectral type. Ultraviolet Celescope data for several groups of peculiar stars have also been analyzed. The strong He I stars are too faint in the ultraviolet, possibly owing to enhancement of O II continuous opacity due to oxygen overabundance. The Be stars appear to have ultraviolet colors normal for their MK spectral types. The P Cygni stars are considerably fainter than main-sequence stars of comparable spectral type, probably owing, at least in part, to line blocking by resonance lines of multiply ionized light metals. The Wolf-Rayet stars have ultraviolet color temperatures of O stars.

Deutschman, W. A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Probing Heavy Axion-like Particles from Massive Stars with X-rays and Gamma Rays

The hot interiors of massive stars in the later stages of their evolution provide an ideal place for the production of heavy axion-like particles (ALPs) with mass up to O(100 keV) range. We show that a fraction of these ALPs could stream out of the stellar photosphere and subsequently decay into two photons that can be potentially detected on or near the Earth. In particular, we estimate the photon flux originating from the spontaneous decay of heavy ALPs produced inside Horizontal Branch and Wolf-Rayet stars, and assess its detectability by current and future $X$-ray and gamma-ray telescopes. Our results indicate that current and future telescopes can probe axion-photon couplings down to $g_{a\gamma} \sim 4\times 10^{-11}$ GeV${}^{-1}$ for $m_a\sim 10-100$ keV, which covers new ground in the ALP parameter space.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1971

Ultraviolet investigations of cosmic X-ray sources and analogous objects

Data on the UV spectrum of the Crab nebula and on UV and radio frequency observations of Wolf-Rayet stars was analyzed. A description of TT Arietis is given. It is concluded that this object must be a double star, since it does not radiate like an ordinary photosphere or a single blackbody. Details of the spectrum are given.

Johnson, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Infrared spectra of gamma-2 Velorum and zeta Puppis

Observations of gamma-2 Vel and zeta Pup are presented for the spectral region 5800-11,000 per cm, at resolutions of 2 and 4 per cm, respectively. This constitutes the first reported spectroscopy of a Wolf-Rayet star beyond 1.1 microns. The new spectral region contained numerous emission features for the WC8 component of gamma-2 Vel, but only the P-beta line in absorption for the O4f star zeta Pup. Line identifications are given for gamma-2 Vel and are shown to be consistent with visual spectroscopy. The species identified are H, He I-II, and C II-IV.

Barnes, T. G.↗