TY  - JOUR
A1  - Toalá, Jesús Alberto
A1  - Bowman, Dominic
A1  - Van Reeth, Timothy
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Dsilva, Karan
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Koenigsberger, Gloria Suzanne
A1  - Estrada-Dorado, Sandino
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
T1  - Multiple variability time-scales of the early nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet star WR 7
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - We present the analysis of the optical variability of the early, nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR 7. The analysis of multisector Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves and high-resolution spectroscopic observations confirm multiperiodic variability that is modulated on time-scales of years. We detect a dominant period of 2.6433 +/- 0.0005 d in the TESS sectors 33 and 34 light curves in addition to the previously reported high-frequency features from sector 7. We discuss the plausible mechanisms that may be responsible for such variability in WR 7, including pulsations, binarity, co-rotating interaction regions (CIRs), and clumpy winds. Given the lack of strong evidence for the presence of a stellar or compact companion, we suggest that WR 7 may pulsate in quasi-coherent modes in addition to wind variability likely caused by CIRs on top of stochastic low-frequency variability. WR 7 is certainly a worthy target for future monitoring in both spectroscopy and photometry to sample both the short (less than or similar to 1 d) and long (greater than or similar to 1000 d) variability time-scales.
KW  - stars: atmospheres
KW  - stars: evolution
KW  - stars: individual: WR 7
KW  - stars: winds
KW  - outflows
KW  - stars: Wolft-Rayet
Y1  - 2022
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stac1455
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 514
IS  - 2
SP  - 2269
EP  - 2277
PB  - Oxford University Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hainich, Rainer
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Marchant Campos, Pablo
A1  - Eldridge, J. J.
A1  - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Langer, Norbert
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
T1  - Observational properties of massive black hole binary progenitors
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Context:
The first directly detected gravitational waves (GW 150914) were emitted by two coalescing black holes (BHs) with masses of ≈ 36 M⊙ and ≈ 29 M⊙. Several scenarios have been proposed to put this detection into an astrophysical context. The evolution of an isolated massive binary system is among commonly considered models.
Aims:
Various groups have performed detailed binary-evolution calculations that lead to BH merger events. However, the question remains open as to whether binary systems with the predicted properties really exist. The aim of this paper is to help observers to close this gap by providing spectral characteristics of massive binary BH progenitors during a phase where at least one of the companions is still non-degenerate.
Methods:
Stellar evolution models predict fundamental stellar parameters. Using these as input for our stellar atmosphere code (Potsdam Wolf-Rayet), we compute a set of models for selected evolutionary stages of massive merging BH progenitors at different metallicities.
Results:
The synthetic spectra obtained from our atmosphere calculations reveal that progenitors of massive BH merger events start their lives as O2-3V stars that evolve to early-type blue supergiants before they undergo core-collapse during the Wolf-Rayet phase. When the primary has collapsed, the remaining system will appear as a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary. Based on our atmosphere models, we provide feedback parameters, broad band magnitudes, and spectral templates that should help to identify such binaries in the future.
Conclusions:
While the predicted parameter space for massive BH binary progenitors is partly realized in nature, none of the known massive binaries match our synthetic spectra of massive BH binary progenitors exactly. Comparisons of empirically determined mass-loss rates with those assumed by evolution calculations reveal significant differences. The consideration of the empirical mass-loss rates in evolution calculations will possibly entail a shift of the maximum in the predicted binary-BH merger rate to higher metallicities, that is, more candidates should be expected in our cosmic neighborhood than previously assumed.
KW  - gravitational waves
KW  - binaries: close
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: atmospheres
KW  - stars: winds
KW  - outflows
KW  - stars: mass-loss
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731449
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 609
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  -