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A near-infrared survey for galactic Wolf-Rayet stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 May 2016

Nicole L. Homeier ,
Robert D. Blum ,
Peter S. Conti ,
Anna Pasquali  and
Augusto Damineli
Nicole L. Homeier
Affiliation:
European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, D-85748 Garching-bei-München, BRD
Robert D. Blum
Affiliation:
Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory, Casilla 603, La Serena, Chile
Peter S. Conti
Affiliation:
Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0440, USA
Anna Pasquali
Affiliation:
Space Telescope - European Coordinating Facility, ESO, Karl-Schwarzschild-Straße 2, D-85748 Garching-bei-München, BRD
Augusto Damineli
Affiliation:
Instituto Astronomico e Geofísico, Universidade de São Paulo, Av. Miguel Stefano 4200, 04301-904 São Paulo, Brasil

Abstract

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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 near-IR 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.

Type
Part 3. Location and Distribution of Massive Stars
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 212: A Massive Star Odyssey: From Main Sequence to Supernova , 2003 , pp. 555 - 557
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 2003 

References

Blum, R.D., Damineli, A. 1999, in: van der Hucht, K. A., Koenigsberger, G. & Eenens, P.R.J. (eds.), Wolf-Rayet Phenomena in Massive Stars and Starburst Galaxies, Proc. IAU Symp. No. 193 (San Francisco: ASP), p. 472.Google Scholar
Figer, D.F., McLean, I.S., Morris, M. 1999, ApJ 514, 202.Google Scholar
Homeier, N.L., Blum, R.D., Conti, P.S., Damineli, A. 2000 AAS, 197.0412.Google Scholar
Homeier, N.L., Blum, R.D., Conti, P.S., Damineli, A. 2003, A&A 397, 585.Google Scholar
van der Hucht, K.A. 2001, New Astron. Reviews 45, 135.Google Scholar