The ionized nebula surrounding the red supergiant W26 in westerlund 1

Nicholas J. Wright; Roger Wesson; Janet E. Drew; Geert Barentsen; Michael J. Barlow; Jeremy R. Walsh; Albert Zijlstra; Jeremy J. Drake; Jochen Eisl̈offel; Hywel J. Farnhill

doi:10.1093/mnrasl/slt127

The ionized nebula surrounding the red supergiant W26 in westerlund 1

Nicholas J. Wright, Roger Wesson, Janet E. Drew, Geert Barentsen, Michael J. Barlow, Jeremy R. Walsh, Albert Zijlstra, Jeremy J. Drake, Jochen Eisl̈offel, Hywel J. Farnhill

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Abstract

We present Hα images of an ionized nebula surrounding theM2-5Ia red supergiant (RSG)W26 in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1. The nebula consists of a circumstellar shell or ring ̃0.1 pc in diameter and a triangular nebulã0.2 pc from the star that in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope images shows a complex filamentary structure. The excitation mechanism of both regions is unclear since RSGs are too cool to produce ionizing photons and we consider various possibilities. The presence of the nebula, high stellar luminosity and spectral variability suggests that W26 is a highly evolved RSG experiencing extreme levels of mass-loss. As the only known example of an ionized nebula surrounding an RSGW26 deserves further attention to improve our understanding of the final evolutionary stages of massive stars.©2013 The Authors.

Original language	English
Article number	slt127
Pages (from-to)	-L5
Journal	Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Volume	437
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slt127
Publication status	Published - Dec 2013

Keywords

Circumstellar matter-stars:individual: W26-stars:mass-loss-supergiants-stars:Winds
Outflows.

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10.1093/mnrasl/slt127

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title = "The ionized nebula surrounding the red supergiant W26 in westerlund 1",

abstract = "We present Hα images of an ionized nebula surrounding theM2-5Ia red supergiant (RSG)W26 in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1. The nebula consists of a circumstellar shell or ring{\~ }0.1 pc in diameter and a triangular nebul{\~a}0.2 pc from the star that in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope images shows a complex filamentary structure. The excitation mechanism of both regions is unclear since RSGs are too cool to produce ionizing photons and we consider various possibilities. The presence of the nebula, high stellar luminosity and spectral variability suggests that W26 is a highly evolved RSG experiencing extreme levels of mass-loss. As the only known example of an ionized nebula surrounding an RSGW26 deserves further attention to improve our understanding of the final evolutionary stages of massive stars.{\textcopyright}2013 The Authors.",

keywords = "Circumstellar matter-stars:individual: W26-stars:mass-loss-supergiants-stars:Winds, Outflows.",

author = "Wright, {Nicholas J.} and Roger Wesson and Drew, {Janet E.} and Geert Barentsen and Barlow, {Michael J.} and Walsh, {Jeremy R.} and Albert Zijlstra and Drake, {Jeremy J.} and Jochen Eis{\"l}offel and Farnhill, {Hywel J.}",

year = "2013",

month = dec,

doi = "10.1093/mnrasl/slt127",

language = "English",

volume = "437",

pages = "--L5",

journal = "Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters",

issn = "1745-3933",

publisher = "Oxford University Press",

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T1 - The ionized nebula surrounding the red supergiant W26 in westerlund 1

AU - Wright, Nicholas J.

AU - Wesson, Roger

AU - Drew, Janet E.

AU - Barentsen, Geert

AU - Barlow, Michael J.

AU - Walsh, Jeremy R.

AU - Zijlstra, Albert

AU - Drake, Jeremy J.

AU - Eisl̈offel, Jochen

AU - Farnhill, Hywel J.

PY - 2013/12

Y1 - 2013/12

N2 - We present Hα images of an ionized nebula surrounding theM2-5Ia red supergiant (RSG)W26 in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1. The nebula consists of a circumstellar shell or ring ̃0.1 pc in diameter and a triangular nebulã0.2 pc from the star that in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope images shows a complex filamentary structure. The excitation mechanism of both regions is unclear since RSGs are too cool to produce ionizing photons and we consider various possibilities. The presence of the nebula, high stellar luminosity and spectral variability suggests that W26 is a highly evolved RSG experiencing extreme levels of mass-loss. As the only known example of an ionized nebula surrounding an RSGW26 deserves further attention to improve our understanding of the final evolutionary stages of massive stars.©2013 The Authors.

AB - We present Hα images of an ionized nebula surrounding theM2-5Ia red supergiant (RSG)W26 in the massive star cluster Westerlund 1. The nebula consists of a circumstellar shell or ring ̃0.1 pc in diameter and a triangular nebulã0.2 pc from the star that in high-resolution Hubble Space Telescope images shows a complex filamentary structure. The excitation mechanism of both regions is unclear since RSGs are too cool to produce ionizing photons and we consider various possibilities. The presence of the nebula, high stellar luminosity and spectral variability suggests that W26 is a highly evolved RSG experiencing extreme levels of mass-loss. As the only known example of an ionized nebula surrounding an RSGW26 deserves further attention to improve our understanding of the final evolutionary stages of massive stars.©2013 The Authors.

KW - Circumstellar matter-stars:individual: W26-stars:mass-loss-supergiants-stars:Winds

KW - Outflows.

U2 - 10.1093/mnrasl/slt127

DO - 10.1093/mnrasl/slt127

M3 - Article

SN - 1745-3933

VL - 437

SP - -L5

JO - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

JF - Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters

IS - 1

M1 - slt127

ER -

The ionized nebula surrounding the red supergiant W26 in westerlund 1

Abstract

Keywords

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