Imaging "Pinwheel"nebulae with optical long-baseline interferometry

Florentin Millour (1) , Thomas Driebe (2) , José Groh (3) , Olivier Chesneau (1) , Gerd Weigelt (3) , Adriane Liermann (3) , Anthony Meilland (3)

1 FIZEAU - Laboratoire Hippolyte Fizeau
2 DLR - German Aerospace Center
3 MPIFR - Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie

Dusty Wolf-Rayet stars are few but remarkable in terms of dust production rates (up to one millionth of solar mass per year). Infrared excesses associated to mass-loss are found in the sub-types WC8 and WC9. Few WC9d stars are hosting a “pinwheel” nebula, indirect evidence of a companion star around the primary. While few other WC9d stars have a dust shell which has been barely resolved so far, the available angular resolution offered by single telescopes is insufficient to confirm if they also host “pinwheel” nebulae or not. In this article, we present the possible detection of such nebula around the star WR118. We discuss about the potential of interferometry to image more “pinwheel” nebulae around other WC9d stars.

Mots clés: techniques: high angular resolution; techniques: interferometric; binaries: close; stars: individual WR118; stars: mass loss; stars: winds; outflows; stars: Wolf-Rayet

Domaines: Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]; Astrophysique stellaire et solaire [astro-ph.SR]

Florentin Millour, Thomas Driebe, José Groh, Olivier Chesneau, Gerd Weigelt, et al.. Imaging "Pinwheel"nebulae with optical long-baseline interferometry. Active OB stars: structure, evolution, mass loss and critical limits., Jul 2010, Paris, France. ⟨hal-00536058⟩