NGC 3603-B

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NGC 3603-B
NGC3603 core.jpg
B is the brightest star just left of the three barely-resolved A components at the centre in this HST image of the central region of HD 97950.
Credit: NASA, ESA and Wolfgang Brandner (MPIA), Boyke Rochau (MPIA) and Andrea Stolte (University of Cologne)
Observation data
Epoch J2000.0        Equinox J2000.0 (ICRS)
Constellation Carina
Right ascension  11h 15m 07.411s [1]
Declination −61° 15′ 38.58″ [1]
Apparent magnitude  (V)11.33 [1]
Characteristics
Spectral type WN6h [2]
B−V color index +1.01 [1]
Astrometry
Proper motion (μ)RA: 2.4 [3]   mas/yr
Dec.: 2.8 [3]   mas/yr
Distance 7,600 [2]   pc
Absolute magnitude  (MV)−7.77 [2]
Details
Mass 132 [2]   M☉
Radius 33.8 [2]   R☉
Luminosity 2,900,000 [2]   L☉
Temperature 42,000 [2]   K
Age 1.5 [2]   Myr
Other designations
NGC 3603-B, CD-60°3452B, CPD-60°2732B, HD  97950B, HIP  54948B, WR  43b, NGC 3603 MDS 23
Database references
SIMBAD data

NGC 3603-B (HD 97950B) is a Wolf-Rayet star located at the centre of the HD 97950 cluster in the NGC 3603 star-forming region, about 25,000 light years from Earth. It has the spectral type WN6h and is among the most luminous and most massive stars known.

HD 97950 was catalogued as a star, but was known to be a dense cluster or close multiple star. In 1926, the six brightest members were given letters from A to F, [4] although several of them have since been resolved into more than one star. Star B turned out to be the brightest single star. [5]

HD 97950B is a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star, with spectra dominated by strong broadened emission lines. Type WN6 indicates that ionised nitrogen lines are strong in comparison to ionised carbon lines, and the suffix h indicates that hydrogen is also seen in the spectrum. This type of WR star is not the classical stripped helium-burning aged star, but a young highly luminous object with CNO cycle fusion products showing at the surface due to strong conventional and rotational mixing, and high mass loss rates from the atmosphere. The emission lines are generated in the stellar wind and the photosphere is completely hidden. The surface fraction of hydrogen is still estimated to be around 60%. [2]

HD 97950B is the most massive and most luminous star known in the NGC 3603 region, nearly three million times more luminous than the sun and 132 times more massive. Although the star is very young, around 1.5 million years old, it has already lost a considerable fraction of its initial masses. The initial mass is estimated to have been 166 M☉, meaning it has lost 34 M☉. [2]

Related Research Articles

Wolf–Rayet star Stars with unusual spectra showing prominent broad emission lines of highly ionised helium and nitrogen or carbon

Wolf–Rayet stars, often abbreviated as WR stars, are a rare heterogeneous set of stars with unusual spectra showing prominent broad emission lines of ionised helium and highly ionised nitrogen or carbon. The spectra indicate very high surface enhancement of heavy elements, depletion of hydrogen, and strong stellar winds. Their surface temperatures range from 30,000 K to around 210,000 K, hotter than almost all other stars. They were previously called W-type stars referring to their spectral classification.

Carina Nebula H II region in the constellation Carina

The Carina Nebula is a large, complex area of bright and dark nebulosity in the constellation Carina, and is located in the Carina–Sagittarius Arm. The nebula is approximately 8,500 light-years (2,600 pc) from Earth.

NGC 3603 open cluster in the constellation Carina

NGC 3603 is a nebula situated in the Carina spiral arm of the Milky Way around 20,000 light-years away from the Solar System. It is a massive HII region containing a very compact open cluster HD 97950.

Sher 25 star

Sher 25 is a blue supergiant star in the constellation Carina, located approximately 25,000 light years from the Sun in the H II region NGC 3603 of the Milky Way. It is a spectral type B1Iab star with an apparent magnitude of 12.2. Its initial main sequence mass is calculated at 60 times the mass of our Sun, but a star of this type will have already lost a substantial fraction of that mass. It is unclear whether Sher 25 has been through a red supergiant phase or has just evolved from the main sequence, so the current mass is very uncertain.

R136 super star cluster

R136 is the central concentration of stars in the NGC 2070 star cluster, which lies at the centre of the Tarantula Nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. When originally named it was an unresolved stellar object but is now known to include 72 class O and Wolf–Rayet stars within 5 parsecs of the centre of the cluster. The extreme number and concentration of young massive stars in this part of the LMC qualifies it as a starburst region.

NGC 3603-A1 star

NGC 3603-A1 is a double-eclipsing binary star system located at the centre of the HD 97950 cluster in the NGC 3603 star-forming region, about 25,000 light years from Earth. Both stars are of spectral type WN6h and among the most luminous and most massive known.

WR 7 Star in the constellation Canis Major

WR 7 is a Wolf–Rayet star in the constellation of Canis Major. It lies at the centre of a complex bubble of gas which is shocked and partially ionised by the star's radiation and winds.

HD 97950

HD 97950, is a multiple star system and part of a super star cluster within the NGC 3603 H II region. It was catalogued as a single star although it was always known to be a compact cluster. It is now resolved into a massive multiple star at the centre of one of the densest clusters in the galaxy.

HD 5980 triple star system in the constellation Tucana

HD 5980 is a multiple star system in NGC 346 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) and is one of the brightest stars in the SMC.

AB7

AB7, also known as SMC WR7, is a binary star in the Small Magellanic Cloud. A Wolf–Rayet star and a supergiant companion of spectral type O orbit in a period of 19.56 days. The system is surrounded by a ring-shaped nebula known as a bubble nebula.

WR 25 star

WR 25 is a binary star system in the turbulent star forming region Carina Nebula, about 6,800 light-years from Earth. It contains a Wolf-Rayet star and a hot luminous companion, and is a member of the Trumpler 16 cluster.

R136a3 star

R136a3 is a Wolf–Rayet star in R136, a massive star cluster located in Dorado. It is located near R136a1, the most massive and luminous star known. R136a3 is itself one of the most massive and most luminous stars known at 180 times more massive and 3.8 million times more luminous than the Sun.

WR 24 star

WR 24 is a Wolf-Rayet star in the constellation Carina. It is one of the most luminous stars known. At the edge of naked eye visibility it is also one of the brightest Wolf Rayet stars in the sky.

NGC 3603-C Binary star system

NGC 3603-C is a single-lined spectroscopic binary star system located at the centre of the HD 97950 cluster in the NGC 3603 star-forming region, about 25,000 light years from Earth. The primary has spectral type WN6h and is among the most luminous and most massive known.

WR 42e star

WR 42e is a Wolf-Rayet star in the massive H II region NGC 3603 in the constellation of the Carina. It is around 25,000 light years or 7,600 parsec from the Sun. WR 42e is one of the most massive and most luminous stars known.

R99 is a star in the Large Magellanic Cloud in the constellation Dorado. It is classified as a possible luminous blue variable and is one of the most luminous stars known.

CD Crucis, also known as HD 311884, is an eclipsing binary star system in the constellation Crux. It is around 14,000 light years away near the faint open cluster Hogg 15. The binary contains a Wolf–Rayet star and is also known as WR 47.

WR 111 is a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star in the constellation Sagittarius (constellation). It is magnitude 7.8 and lies about 5,150 light-years away. It is one of the brightest and most closely studied WR stars.

WR 2 is a Wolf-Rayet star located around 8,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation of Cassiopeia. It is smaller than the sun, but due to a temperature over 140,000 K it is 282,000 times as luminous as the sun.

HD 151932 star

HD 151932, also known as WR 78, is a Wolf-Rayet star located in the constellation Scorpius, close to the galactic plane. Its distance is around 1,300 parsecs away from the Earth. Despite being a blue-colored Wolf-Rayet star, it is extremely reddened by interstellar extinction, so its apparent magnitude is brighter for longer-wavelength passbands. HD 151932 lies about 22′ west of the open cluster NGC 6231, the center of the OB association Scorpius OB1; it is not clear whether it is a part of the association or not. With an apparent magnitude of about 6.5, it is one of the few Wolf-Rayet stars that can be seen with the naked eye.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Melena, Nicholas W.; Massey, Philip; Morrell, Nidia I.; Zangari, Amanda M. (2008). "THE MASSIVE STAR CONTENT OF NGC 3603". The Astronomical Journal. 135 (3): 878–891. arXiv: 0712.2621 . Bibcode:2008AJ....135..878M. doi:10.1088/0004-6256/135/3/878. ISSN   0004-6256.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Crowther, P. A.; Schnurr, O.; Hirschi, R.; Yusof, N.; Parker, R. J.; Goodwin, S. P.; Kassim, H. A. (2010). "The R136 star cluster hosts several stars whose individual masses greatly exceed the accepted 150 M⊙ stellar mass limit". Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society . 408 (2): 731–751. arXiv: 1007.3284 . Bibcode:2010MNRAS.408..731C. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2010.17167.x.
  3. 1 2 Zacharias, N.; et al. (2003). "The Second U.S. Naval Observatory CCD Astrograph Catalog (UCAC2)". CDS/ADC Collection of Electronic Catalogues. 1289. Bibcode:2003yCat.1289....0Z.
  4. ↑ Van Den Bos, W. H. (1928). "Another nebulous multiple star". Bulletin of the Astronomical Institutes of the Netherlands. 4: 261. Bibcode:1928BAN.....4..261V.
  5. ↑ Moffat, Anthony F. J.; Drissen, Laurent; Shara, Michael M. (1994). "NGC 3603 and its Wolf-Rayet stars: Galactic clone of R136 at the core of 30 Doradus, but without the massive surrounding cluster halo". Astrophysical Journal. 436: 183. Bibcode:1994ApJ...436..183M. doi:10.1086/174891.
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