Hot gas in the Wolf-Rayet nebula NGC3199

Abstract

The Wolf-Rayet (WR) nebula NGC3199 has been suggested to be a bow shock around its central star WR18, presumably a runaway star, because optical images of the nebula show a dominating arc of emission south-west of the star. We present the XMM-Newton detection of extended X-ray emission from NGC3199, unveiling the powerful effect of the fast wind from WR18. The X-ray emission is brighter in the region south-east of the star and analysis of the spectral properties of the X-ray emission reveals abundance variations: i) regions close to the optical arc present nitrogen-rich gas enhanced by the stellar wind from WR18 and ii) gas at the eastern region exhibits abundances close to those reported for nebular abundances derived from optical studies, signature of an efficient mixing of the nebular material with the stellar wind. The dominant plasma temperature and electron density are estimated to be $T\approx 1.2\times$10${}^6$ K and $n_{\mathrm{e}}$=0.3 cm${}^{-3}$ with an X-ray luminosity in the 0.3-3.0 keV energy range of $L_{\mathrm{X}}$=2.6$\times$10${}^{34}$ erg s${}^{-1}$. Combined with information derived from Herschel and the recent Gaia first data release, we conclude that WR18 is not a runaway star and the formation, chemical variations, and shape of NGC3199 depend on the initial configuration of the interstellar medium.

12 pages, 6 figures, 1 table; Accepted for publication in ApJ

References in corpus (5)

• Gaia Data Release 1. Summary of the astrometric, photometric, and survey properties
• The Galactic WN stars: Spectral analyses with line-blanketed model atmospheres versus stellar evolution models with and without rotation
• The XMM-Newton EPIC Background and the production of Background Blank Sky Event Files
• On the diffuse X-ray emission from the Wolf-Rayet Bubble NGC 2359
• Herschel-PACS Measurements of Nitrogen Enrichment in Nebulae around Wolf-Rayet Stars

Cited by in corpus (6)

• Thermal emission from bow shocks I: 2D Hydrodynamic Models of the Bubble Nebula
• X-rays observations of a super-Chandrasekhar object reveal an ONeMg and a CO white dwarf merger product embedded in a putative SN Iax remnant
• Unveiling the stellar origin of the Wolf-Rayet nebula NGC6888 through infrared observations
• Possible Detection of X-Ray Emitting Circumstellar Material in the Synchrotron-Dominated Supernova Remnant RX J 1713.7-3946
• Dynamically consistent analysis of Galactic WN4b stars
• The origin of the very-high-energy radiation along the jet of Centaurus A