WR 156
WR 156 is a young massive and luminous Wolf–Rayet star in the constellation of Cepheus. Although it shows a WR spectrum, it is thought to be a young star still fusing hydrogen in its core.
| Observation data Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000 | |
|---|---|
| Constellation | Cepheus |
| Right ascension | 23h 00m 10.13337s[1] |
| Declination | +60° 55′ 38.4168″[1] |
| Apparent magnitude (V) | 11.01[2] |
| Characteristics | |
| Spectral type | WN8h[3] |
| B−V color index | +1.17[2] |
| Astrometry | |
| Proper motion (μ) | RA: −2.595±0.040[4] mas/yr Dec.: −1.691±0.042[4] mas/yr |
| Parallax (π) | 0.2090 ± 0.0251[4] mas |
| Distance | approx. 16,000 ly (approx. 4,800 pc) |
| Absolute magnitude (MV) | −7.00[5] |
| Details | |
| Mass | 32[5] M☉ |
| Radius | 21[5] R☉ |
| Luminosity | 1,000,000[5] L☉ |
| Temperature | 39,800[5] K |
| Other designations | |
| Database references | |
| SIMBAD | data |
Distance
WR 156 has a Hipparcos parallax of 3.16" indicating a distance of about a thousand light years, although with a fairly large margin of error. Other studies indicate that it is much more distant based on a very high luminosity and faint apparent magnitude.[5] The Gaia DR1 parallax is 0.07". The margin of error is larger than the measured parallax, but still the indication is for a very large distance.[6] In Gaia Data Release 2, the parallax is given as 0.2090±0.0251 mas but with a marker that the result may be unreliable.[4]
Physical properties
WR 156 has a WR spectrum on the nitrogen sequence, indicating strong emission of helium and nitrogen, but it also shows features of hydrogen. Therefore, it is given a spectral type of WN8h. Its outer layers are calculated to contain 30% hydrogen, one of the highest levels for any galactic Wolf Rayet star.[7]
WR 156 has a low temperature and slow stellar wind by Wolf Rayet standards, only 39,800 K and 660 km/s respectively. The wind is very dense, with total mass loss of more than 1/100,000 M☉/year.[5]
WR 156 is a young hydrogen-rich star, still burning hydrogen in its core but sufficiently luminous to have convected up nitrogen and helium fusion products to its surface. It shows 27% hydrogen at its surface.[5] It is estimated to have had an initial mass of 50 M☉ several million years ago.[7]
References
- Van Leeuwen, F. (2007). "Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 474 (2): 653. arXiv:0708.1752. Bibcode:2007A&A...474..653V. doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20078357.
- Høg, E.; Fabricius, C.; Makarov, V. V.; Urban, S.; Corbin, T.; Wycoff, G.; Bastian, U.; Schwekendiek, P.; Wicenec, A. (2000). "The Tycho-2 catalogue of the 2.5 million brightest stars". Astronomy and Astrophysics. 355: L27. Bibcode:2000A&A...355L..27H. doi:10.1888/0333750888/2862. ISBN 0333750888.
- Maryeva, Olga (2016). "The study of massive stars with 50 Msun initial mass at different evolutionary stages". arXiv:1612.01191 [astro-ph.SR].
- Brown, A. G. A.; et al. (Gaia collaboration) (August 2018). "Gaia Data Release 2: Summary of the contents and survey properties". Astronomy & Astrophysics. 616. A1. arXiv:1804.09365. Bibcode:2018A&A...616A...1G. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201833051. Gaia DR2 record for this source at VizieR.
- Sota, A.; Maíz Apellániz, J.; Morrell, N. I.; Barbá, R. H.; Walborn, N. R.; Gamen, R. C.; Arias, J. I.; Alfaro, E. J.; Oskinova, L. M. (2019). "The Galactic WN stars revisited. Impact of Gaia distances on fundamental stellar parameters". arXiv:1904.04687 [astro-ph.SR].
- Gaia Collaboration (2016). "VizieR Online Data Catalog: Gaia DR1 (Gaia Collaboration, 2016)". VizieR On-line Data Catalog: I/337. Originally Published in: Astron. Astrophys. 1337. Bibcode:2016yCat.1337....0G.
- Maryeva, O. V.; Afanasiev, V. L.; Panchuk, V. E. (2013). "Study of the late nitrogen-sequence Galactic Wolf-Rayet star WR156. Spectropolarimetry and modeling". New Astronomy. 25: 27. Bibcode:2013NewA...25...27M. doi:10.1016/j.newast.2013.03.015.
