A Near-Infrared Survey for Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars
arXiv:astro-ph/0207416 · doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20021569
Abstract
Most of the Milky Way's evolved massive stellar population is hidden from view. We can attempt to remedy this situation with near-infrared observations, and in this paper we present our method for detecting Wolf-Rayet stars in highly extincted regions and apply it to the inner Galaxy. Using narrow band filters at K-band wavelengths, we demonstrate how WR stars can be detected in regions where they are optically obscured. Candidates are selected for spectroscopic follow-up from our relative line and continuum photometry. The final results of applying this method with a NIR survey in the Galactic plane will provide a more complete knowledge of the structure of the galactic disk, the role of metallicity in massive stellar evolution, and environments of massive star formation. In this paper we briefly describe the survey set-up and report on recent progress. We have discovered four emission-line objects in the inner Galaxy: two with nebular emission lines, and two new WR stars, both of late WC subtype.
3 pages, to appear in "A Massive Star Odyssey: from Main Sequence to Supernova", ed. K. A. van der Hucht, Proc. IAU Symp. 212 (San Francisco: ASP), in prep
References in corpus (16)
- The evolution of rotating stars
- Stellar evolution with rotation VII: Low metallicity models and the blue to red supergiant ratio in the SMC
- Properties of Galactic Outflows: Measurements of the Feedback from Star Formation
- HST/NICMOS Observations of Massive Stellar Clusters Near the Galactic Center
- Massive Stars in the Quintuplet Cluster
- The Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Properties of Local Starbursts: Implications at High-Redshift
- Stellar and Wind Properties of LMC WC4 stars - A metallicity dependence for Wolf-Rayet mass-loss rates
- On the Escape of Ionizing Radiation from Starbursts
- The Superbubble Size Distribution in the Interstellar Medium of Galaxies
- Quantitative analysis of WC stars: Constraints on neon abundances from ISO/SWS spectroscopy
- Giant Outbursts of Luminous Blue Variables and the Formation of the Homunculus Nebula Around eta Carinae
- 2 um Narrow-band Adaptive Optics Imaging in the Arches Cluster
- Chemical abundances and winds of massive stars in M31: a B-type supergiant and a WC star in OB10
- Results from a Near Infrared Search for Emission-line Stars in the Inner Galaxy: Spectra of New Wolf-Rayet Stars
- 2 um Narrow-Band Imaging of the Sagittarius D H II region
- A Near-Infrared Survey for Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars
Cited by in corpus (7)
- A census of the Wolf-Rayet content in Westerlund 1 from near-infrared imaging and spectroscopy
- Stellar Winds and Embedded Star Formation in the Galactic Center Quintuplet and Arches Clusters: Multifrequency Radio Observations
- Massive Star Formation in the W49 Giant Molecular Cloud: Implications for the Formation of Massive Star Clusters
- Results from a Near Infrared Search for Emission-line Stars in the Inner Galaxy: Spectra of New Wolf-Rayet Stars
- Variable dust emission by WC type Wolf-Rayet stars observed in the NEOWISE-R survey
- A Near-Infrared Survey for Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars
- High angular resolution near-infrared integral field observations of young star cluster complexes in NGC1365