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A Search for High Excitation Nebulae Around Wolf-Rayet Stars in the Magellanic Clouds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

V. S. Niemela
Affiliation:
1Instituto De Astronomia y Fisica del Espacio, CC67, Suc 28, 1428 Buenos Aires, Argentina
S. R. Heathcote
Affiliation:
2Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
W.G. Weller
Affiliation:
2Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, National Optical Astronomy Observatories, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile

Extract

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We have serendipitously discovered that the WN+O binary Br 40a in the LMC is surrounded by a remarkable high excitation nebula, showing extended, narrow emission lines of HeII. This prompted us to make a systematic search for similar high excitation nebulae around other WR stars in the Magellanic Clouds. This survey revealed a second even more extreme example surrounding the WN+O binary AB-7 in the SMC, and one other marginal detection AB-5 (SMC). The detection of nebular HeII emission implies that these WN stars emit a much harder UV spectrum than is traditionally expected. For each of these nebulae we have taken narrow band CCD images at the CTIO 0.9-m telescope, and have obtained spectrophotometry with the 2D-Frutti photon counting detector on the CTIO 1.0-m telescope.

Type
Session VI. Enrichment
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1991