Gemini/GNIRS infrared spectroscopy of the Wolf-Rayet stellar wind in Cygnus X-3

Abstract

The microquasar Cygnus X-3 was observed several times with the Gemini North Infrared Spectrograph while the source was in the hard X-ray state. We describe the observed 1.0-2.4 $\mu$m spectra as arising from the stellar wind of the companion star and suggest its classification as a WN 4-6 Wolf-Rayet star. We attribute the orbital variations of the emission line profiles to the variations in the ionization structure of the stellar wind caused by the intense X-ray emission from the compact object. The strong variability observed in the line profiles will affect the mass function determination. We are unable to reproduce earlier results, from which the mass function for the Wolf-Rayet star was derived. Instead, we suggest that the system parameters are difficult to obtain from the infrared spectra. We find that the near-infrared continuum and the line spectra can be represented with non-LTE Wolf-Rayet atmosphere models if taking into account the effects arising from the peculiar ionization structure of the stellar wind in an approximative manner. From the representative models, we infer the properties of the Wolf-Rayet star and discuss possible mass ranges for the binary components.

arXiv comment18 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables, accepted for publication in MNRAS

References in corpus (32)

• Physical Properties of Wolf-Rayet Stars
• A census of the Wolf-Rayet content in Westerlund 1 from near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy
• Discovery of extreme particle acceleration in the microquasar Cygnus X-3
• The Eddington factor as the key to understand the winds of the most massive stars. Evidence for a Gamma-dependence of Wolf-Rayet type mass loss
• On IC 10 X-1, the Most Massive Known Stellar-Mass Black Hole
• The Orbital Period of the Wolf-Rayet Binary IC 10 X-1; Dynamic Evidence that the Compact Object is a Black Hole
• Spatial distribution of Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars and implications for the global population
• Cyg X-3: a low-mass black hole or a neutron star
• The Slope of the Near Infrared Extinction Law
• Clumped stellar winds in supergiant high-mass X-ray binaries: X-ray variability and photoionization
• The relativistic jet of Cygnus X-3 in gamma rays
• High Resolution Spectroscopy of the X-ray Photoionized Wind in Cygnus X-3 with the Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating Spectrometer
• NGC 300 X-1 is a Wolf-Rayet/Black-Hole binary
• Orbital dynamics of Cygnus X-3
• Orbital modulation of X-ray emission lines in Cygnus X-3
• Cyg X-3: a Galactic double black hole or black hole-neutron star progenitor
• Effects of the stellar wind on X-ray spectra of Cygnus X-3
• Cygnus X-3 and the problem of the missing Wolf-Rayet X-ray binaries
• Infrared spectroscopic variability of Cygnus X-3 in outburst and quiescence
• The nature of the hard state of Cygnus X-3
• Compton scattering as the explanation of the peculiar X-ray properties of Cyg X-3
• Energy-dependent orbital modulation of X-rays and constraints on emission of the jet in Cyg X-3
• Cygnus X-3: Its Little Friend's Counterpart, the Distance to Cygnus X-3, and Outflows/Jets
• X-ray irradiation of the winds in binaries with massive components
• A Wolf-Rayet/black-hole X-ray binary candidate in NGC 300
• 2006 May-July Major Radio Flare episodes in Cygnus X-3: spectro-timing analysis of the X-ray data
• Chandra and XMM Monitoring of the Black Hole X-ray Binary IC 10 X-1
• Discovery of a 6.4 h black hole binary in NGC 4490
• Stellar wind in state transitions of high-mass X-ray binaries
• Cygnus X-3 with ISO: investigating the wind
• A new candidate Wolf-Rayet X-ray binary in NGC 253
• X-ray Polarization from High Mass X-ray Binaries

Cited by in corpus (30)

• Lunar Gravitational-Wave Antenna
• Identifying quiescent compact objects in massive Galactic single-lined spectroscopic binaries
• The obscured X-ray binaries V404 Cyg, Cyg X-3, V4641 Sgr, and GRS 1915+105
• A comprehensive study of high-energy gamma-ray and radio emission from Cyg X-3
• The X-ray binary GX 339-4/V821 Ara: the distance, inclination, evolutionary status and mass transfer
• Cygnus X-3 revealed as a Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source by IXPE
• The hypersoft state of Cygnus X-3 - A key to jet quenching in X-ray binaries?
• Near-IR and X-ray Variability of Cyg X-3: Evidence for a Compact IR Source and Complex Wind Structures
• The INTEGRAL view on Black Hole X-ray Binaries
• Photoionization Emission Models for the Cyg X-3 X-ray Spectrum
• Ultrasoft state of microquasar Cygnus X-3: X-ray polarimetry reveals the geometry of astronomical puzzle
• On the Neutron Star/Black Hole Mass Gap and Black Hole Searches
• The Wolf-Rayet + Black Hole Binary NGC 300 X-1: What is the Mass of the Black Hole?
• The Period Change and Long-Term Variability of Cyg X-3
• Jets in the soft state in Cyg X-3 caused by advection of the donor magnetic field and unification with low-mass X-ray binaries
• Wind suppression by X-rays in Cygnus X-3
• Inverse Compton Emission from Relativistic Jets in Binary Systems
• INTEGRAL discovery of a high-energy tail in the microquasar Cygnus X-3
• Megahertz emission of massive early-type stars in the Cygnus region
• Microquasar Cyg X-3 -- a unique jet-wind neutrino factory?
• Probing the Stellar Wind of the Wolf-Rayet Star in IC 10 X-1
• The innermost jet in the hidden ultra-luminous X-ray source Cygnus X-3
• Wolf-Rayet -- compact object binaries as progenitors of binary compact objects
• Strong low-frequency radio flaring from Cygnus X-3 observed with LOFAR
• Cygnus X-3 as semi-hidden PeVatron
• Spectroscopic modelling of two high-mass X-ray binaries, Cyg X--3 and 4U 1538--522
• Secrets behind the RXTE/ASM light curve of Cyg X-3
• Birthplaces of X-ray emission lines in Cygnus X-3
• Long-term study of the gamma-ray emission of Cygnus X-3 with MAGIC and Fermi-LAT
• Extreme Transients in Gamma Rays