WOLF RAYET SPECTRA

French astronomers Wolf and Rayet found very broad emission lines in several 8th magnitude stars in Cygnus. The 'bands' were originally thought to be hydrocarbon molecules. The spectra of V1042, MR103 and MR100 was visually observed by C.J.Wolf and G.Rayet in 1867, before the systematic use of photographic plates. It was the first known instance of a laser being observed almost 100 years before the first optical laser was built.

[ Wolf Rayet Optical Spectra ]

Optical spectra of four Wolf-Rayet stars as a function of wavelength in Angstrom units, from top to bottom : V1042, MR103, MR107 and MR84. Spectra plotted in grey as they appear to the eye under very low illumination conditions. The first two spectra were observed by Wolf and Rayet in 1867.

Ralph Copeland Astronomer Royal for Scotland, led an expedition to Peru and from the shore of lake Titicaca (altitude 4000 meters) describes the spectrum of the bright southern Wolf-Rayet star Gamma Velorum (magnitude 1.74, WC8+O9) :

COMMENTARY

There is a continuity in the optical spectra of certain quasars and those of the central stars of planetary nebula of the O VI sequence. There is some relationship between quasars and planetary nuclei (Varshni, 1977) which have extremely high temperature Wolf-Rayet-like atmospheres.

REFERENCES

  1. Univ. College London Wolf-Rayet research group
  2. Atlas of Optical Spectrophotometry of Wolf-Rayet Carbon and Oxygen Stars (also available from CDS site
  3. Spectrophotometry of Wolf-Rayet Stars (also available from CDS site)
  4. Spectral atlas of the Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars (WN sequence)
  5. Low Resolution IUE spectra of Wolf-Rayet stars
  6. Sixth Catalogue of Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars
  7. Moffat,A.E.J., Marchenko,S.V.: 1996, AA., 305, 29. Observed constraints for radii of Wolf-Rayet stars in very close binaries. A challenge for the "standard model" of WR stars.
  8. Garcia-Segura,G., Mac Low,M.-M, Langer,N.: 1996, AA., 305, 229. The dynamical evolution of circumstellar gas around massive stars. I. The impact of the time sequence O star to LBV to WR star.
  9. Feibelman,W.A.: 1995, PASP., 107, 531. The IUE Absorption Spectrum of the Nucleus of NGC 246: Mostly C IV (P-Cygni line) and O VI
  10. Patriarchi,P., Perinotto,M.: 1995, AASup., 110, 353. A search for wind variability in central stars of planetary nebulae.
  11. Kingsburgh,R.L., Barlow,M.J., Storey,P.J.: 1995, AA., 295, 75. Properties of the WO Wolf-Rayet stars
  12. Terasawa,N., Nakamura,H.: 1995, AA., 294, 443. Ionization structure of Cygnus X-3: Iron anomaly in Wolf-Rayet stars?
  13. Cherepashchuk,A.M., Koenigsberger,G., Marchenko,S.V., Moffat,A.F.J.: 1995, AA., 293, 142. On the relative luminosities of the stars in the Wolf-Rayet binary V444 Cygni.
  14. The Wolf-Rayet Bibliography
  15. The Hot Star Newsletter
  16. Ionization stratification in the winds of Wolf-Rayet stars -- A sample of the WN sequence
  17. The Wolf-Rayet catalogue
  18. The Outer Envelope of the Wolf-Rayet Star gamma2 Velorem
  19. Wolf-Rayet and O star systems (V729 and WR146)
  20. Wolf-Rayet Stars at Jodrell Bank
  21. MSGC - Research Grants: CCD Wolf Rayet Survey
  22. http://www.astro.umontreal.ca/people/bertrand/AJ108_678.html
  23. Astronomical Methods
  24. Wolf-Rayet Nebulae
  25. Wolf-Rayet Stars in Superbubbles
  26. Propriétés moléculaires de trois galaxies Wolf-Rayet
  27. http://ast1.spa.umn.edu/chip/Research/N5253_HI.html
  28. Discovery of Two Wolf-Rayet Stars Near the Galactic Center
  29. Wolf-Rayet Stars in M33
  30. Moran et al.: 1989, Nature, 340, 449. 'WR147 is double radio source! (MERLIN 0.1 arcsec)'
  31. A Search for Chemical Abundance Enhancements in Wolf-Rayet Galaxies : NGC 4214
  32. Morphology and Stellar Content of the Starburst Regions in Wolf-Rayet Galaxies
  33. The Environments of Hot Stars
  34. Copeland,R.: 1884,Copernicus, 3, 193.
  35. Wolf,C.J., Rayet,G.: 1867, Comptes Rendus Acad.Sci., 65, 292
  36. Brooks,R.C., Whitehorne,M.L.: 1992, J.Roy.Astron.Soc. 86, 228.
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