HR Carinae

HR Carinae is a luminous blue variable star located in the constellation Carina. It is surrounded by a vast nebula of ejected nuclear-processed material because this star has a multiple shell expanding atmosphere. This star is among the most luminous stars in the Milky Way. It has very broad emission wings on the Balmer lines, reminiscent from the broad lines observed in the spectra of O and Wolf–Rayet stars. A distance of 5 kpc and a bolometric magnitude of -9.4 put HR Car among the most luminous stars of the galaxy.

HR Car
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0      Equinox J2000.0
Constellation Carina
Right ascension  10h 22m 53.84074s[1]
Declination −59° 37′ 28.3774″[1]
Apparent magnitude (V) 8.42[2] (6.95 - 8.80[3])
Characteristics
Spectral type LBV[4]
U−B color index −0.22[2]
B−V color index +0.92[2]
Variable type LBV[3]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ) RA: -6.87[1] mas/yr
Dec.: +2.33[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)1.69 ± 0.82[1] mas
Distance5.4k[5] pc
Absolute magnitude (MV)-8.4[4]
Orbit[5]
Period (P)4557.5 ± 21.0 days
Semi-major axis (a)3.324 ± 0.026"
(18 AU)
Eccentricity (e)0.4 ± 0.2
Inclination (i)119.2 ± 0.7°
Details
Mass25[6]- 40[7] M☉
Radius220[5] (100[4] - 350[7]) R☉
Luminosity416,000-790,000[8] L☉
Temperature7,900-21,900[8] K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)150[6] km/s
Other designations
HR Car, HD 90177, HIP 50843, SAO 238005, CD-59 3044, GC 14276, MWC 202, AAVSO 1019-59
Database references
SIMBADdata

Discovery

HR Carinae was first noticed at the start of the 20th century because of its Hβ emission. It was placed in Secchi class I, corresponding to modern A and F-type stars.[9] It was catalogued in 1933 as a Be star[10] and was discovered to be variable in 1940.[11] A more detailed spectroscopic study gave it the type B2eq with emission line of hydrogen, helium, and ionised iron and P Cygni profiles on some lines.[12]

By 1970, HR Carinae and the similar variable AG Carinae were recognised as being related to the P Cygni variables, unstable hot supergiants.[13][14] The group was formally recognised as S Doradus variables to avoid confusion with the P Cygni spectral features shared with other types of star.[15] HR Carinae became one of the best-studied examples of the class, clearly showing the brightness and spectral variations that came to characterise the stars known as luminous blue variables.[16][17]

Brightness variation

HR Carinae undergoes spectral variations apparently correlated with the light variations similarly to other luminous blue variables. It has undergone several outbursts during which the visual brightness increases and the temperature drops, but the bolometric luminosity remains approximately constant. The visual brightness increased erratically but consistently during the later decades of the 20th century to a record peak of mag 6.8, then dropped straight to a record minimum of mag 8.8 by 2010.[6]

Characteristics

HR Carinae has a temperature around 21,000K when quiescent and the spectrum is of an early B hypergiant,[18] but in outburst it cools to below 8,000K.

HR Carinae is a lot like Eta Carinae, both luminous blue variables, and both surrounded by ejected material. HR Carinae is also likely to be a binary system with a similar separation, period, and ratio of component sizes to Eta Carinae.[19] However, the Eta Carinae system is more massive and more luminous.

It has been identified as a possible type IIb supernova candidate in modelling of the fate of stars 20 to 25 times the mass of the Sun (with LBV status as the predicted final stage beforehand).[20]

Binary system

AMBER and PIONIER interferometry has shown that HR Carinae is a binary star system. The orbit is only weakly constrained but the most likely orbit has a semi-major axis of 3.3 mas, eccentricity of 0.4, and a period of 12.5 years. The possible orbits vary from nearly circular orbits of just a few years to highly eccentric orbits of several hundred years, all with the closest separation of the two stars at about 2 mas.[5]

The companion appears to be larger than the primary LBV star, but much less bright. It is most likely a red supergiant about 500 R☉ and with a mass of 9-20 M☉. The diameter of the primary star was also measured directly at 0.38±0.08 mas, corresponding to a radius of 220 R☉ at 5.4 kpc.[5]

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References
  1. 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.
  2. Drilling, J. S. (1991). "UBV photometry of OB+ stars in the southern Milky Way". The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series. 76: 1033. Bibcode:1991ApJS...76.1033D. doi:10.1086/191588.
  3. Samus, N. N.; Durlevich, O. V.; et al. (2009). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: General Catalogue of Variable Stars (Samus+ 2007-2013)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: B/GCVS. Originally Published in: 2009yCat....102025S. 1. Bibcode:2009yCat....102025S.
  4. Hutsemekers, D; van Drom, E. (1991). "HR Carinae - A luminous blue variable surrounded by an arc-shaped nebula". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 281: 141–149. Bibcode:1991A&A...248..141H.
  5. Boffin, Henri M. J.; Rivinius, Thomas; Merand, Antoine; Mehner, Andrea; Lebouquin, Jean-Baptiste; Pourbaix, Dimitri; De Wit, Willem-Jan; Martayan, Christophe; Guieu, Sylvain (2016). "The LBV HR Car has a partner: Discovery of a companion with the VLTI". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 593: A90. arXiv:1607.07724. Bibcode:2016A&A...593A..90B. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201629127. hdl:2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/239364.
  6. Groh, J. H.; Damineli, A.; Hillier, D. J.; Barbá, R.; Fernández-Lajús, E.; Gamen, R. C.; Moisés, A. P.; Solivella, G.; Teodoro, M. (2009). "Bona Fide, Strong-Variable Galactic Luminous Blue Variable Stars Are Fast Rotators: Detection of a High Rotational Velocity in Hr Carinae". The Astrophysical Journal. 705 (1): L25–L30. arXiv:0909.4459. Bibcode:2009ApJ...705L..25G. doi:10.1088/0004-637X/705/1/L25.
  7. Machado, M. A. D.; de Araújo, F. X.; Pereira, C. B.; Fernandes, M. B. (2002). "HR Carinae: New spectroscopic data and physical parameters". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 387: 151–161. Bibcode:2002A&A...387..151M. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20020295. pp. 151-161.
  8. Nazé, Y.; Rauw, G.; Hutsemékers, D. (2012). "The first X-ray survey of Galactic luminous blue variables". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 538: A47. arXiv:1111.6375. Bibcode:2012A&A...538A..47N. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201118040.
  9. Pickering, E. C.; Fleming, W. P. (1901). "Objects having peculiar spectra". The Astrophysical Journal. 14: 144. Bibcode:1901ApJ....14..144P. doi:10.1086/140844. ISSN 0004-637X.
  10. Merrill, Paul W.; Burwell, Cora G. (1933). "Catalogue and Bibliography of Stars of Classes B and a whose Spectra have Bright Hydrogen Lines". The Astrophysical Journal. 78: 87. Bibcode:1933ApJ....78...87M. doi:10.1086/143490. ISSN 0004-637X.
  11. Hoffleit, Dorrit (1940). "A New Variable Star with Be Spectrum". Harvard College Observatory Bulletin. 913: 4. Bibcode:1940BHarO.913....4H.
  12. Henize, Karl G. (1952). "Six Peculiar Hα-EMISSION Stars". The Astrophysical Journal. 115: 133. Bibcode:1952ApJ...115..133H. doi:10.1086/145522. ISSN 0004-637X.
  13. Bond, Howard E.; Landolt, Arlo U. (1970). "Photometric and Spectroscopic Observations of AG and HR Carinae". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 82 (485): 313. Bibcode:1970PASP...82..313B. doi:10.1086/128910.
  14. Viotti, R. (1971). "Note on the Spectrum and Luminosity of AG and HR Carinae". Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. 83 (492): 170. Bibcode:1971PASP...83..170V. doi:10.1086/129095.
  15. Sharov, A. S. (1975). "S Dor-type variables in other galaxies". In: Variable Stars and Stellar Evolution; Proceedings of the Symposium. 67: 275–284. Bibcode:1975IAUS...67..275S. doi:10.1007/978-94-010-9934-9_38. ISBN 978-90-277-0579-2.
  16. Van Genderen, A. M. (1989). "The maximum amplitude of the optical micro-variations of massive O-F type stars (or Alpha Cygni variables, including LBV's or S DOR variables) across the HR diagram". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 208: 135. Bibcode:1989A&A...208..135V.
  17. Stothers, Richard B.; Chin, Chao-Wen (1994). "Luminous blue variables at quiescence: The zone of avoidance in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram". The Astrophysical Journal. 426: L43. Bibcode:1994ApJ...426L..43S. doi:10.1086/187335. ISSN 0004-637X.
  18. Clampin, M.; Schulte-Ladbeck, R. E.; Nota, A.; Robberto, M.; Paresce, F.; Clayton, G. C. (1995). "High Resolution Coronographic Imaging and Spectropolarimetry of the HR Carinae Nebula". The Astronomical Journal. 110: 251. Bibcode:1995AJ....110..251C. doi:10.1086/117514.
  19. Rivinius, Th.; Boffin, H. M. J.; De Wit, W. J.; Mehner, A.; Martayan, Ch.; Guieu, S.; Le Bouquin, J.-B. (2015). "Binarity of the LBV HR Car". New Windows on Massive Stars: Asteroseismology. 307: 295–296. arXiv:1408.0511. Bibcode:2015IAUS..307..295R. doi:10.1017/S174392131400698X.
  20. Groh, J. H.; Meynet, G.; Ekström, S. (2013). "Massive star evolution: luminous blue variables as unexpected supernova progenitors". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 550: 4. arXiv:1301.1519. Bibcode:2013A&A...550L...7G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201220741. L7.
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