Unlocking Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars with $\text{Gaia}$ DR2 I: Distances and absolute magnitudes

Abstract

We obtain distances to 383 Galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars from $\text{Gaia}$ DR2 parallaxes and Bayesian methods, with a prior based on H$\mathrm{II}$ regions and dust extinction. Distances agree with those from Bailer-Jones et al. for stars up to 2 kpc from the Sun, though deviate thereafter due to differing priors, leading to modest reductions in luminosities for recent WR spectroscopic results. We calculate visual and K-band absolute magnitudes, accounting for dust extinction contributions and binarity, and identify 187 stars with reliable absolute magnitudes. For WR and O stars within 2 kpc, we find a WR/O ratio of 0.09. The distances are used to generate absolute magnitude calibrations and obtain the $\text{Gaia}$ colour magnitude diagram for WR stars. Average $v^{\mathrm{WR}}$-band absolute magnitudes for WN stars range from -3.6 mag (WN3-4) to -7.0 mag (WN8-9ha), and -3.1 (WO2-4) to -4.6 mag (WC9), with standard deviations of $\sim$0.6 mag. Using H$\mathrm{II}$ region scale heights, we identify 31 WR stars at large (3$\sigma$, |z|$\ge$156 pc) distances from the mid-plane as potential runaways accounting for the Galactic warp, of which only 4 involve WN8-9 stars, contrary to previous claims.

Amended section 3.3, table 4, table 5 and table 6 based on corrected Av to AK conversion. Minor updates to figures, WR/O ratio and WR stars with reliable results. 19 pages, 15 figures. Additional appendices updated (57 pages, 5 figures). To be published in MNRAS

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