2023/05/25 by Zainab Awad, Awad, Zainab, Alaa Ali +1
Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy and Astrophysical Research #Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies #Astrophysics of Galaxies (astro-ph.GA) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2305.16181
openalex publication_date 2023/05/25 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We addressed the physical and kinematical properties of Wolf -- Rayet [WR] central stars (CSs) and their hosting planetary nebulae (PNe). The studied sample comprises all [WR] CSs that are currently known. The analysis is based on recent observations of the parallax, proper motion, and color index of [WR] CSs from the Gaia space mission's early third release (eDR3) catalog, as well as common nebular characteristics. The results revealed an evolutionary sequence, in terms of decreasing Teff, from the early hot [WO 1] to the late cold [WC 12] stars. This evolutionary sequence extends beyond [WR] CS temperature and luminosity to additional CS and nebular characteristics. The statistical analysis showed that the mean final stellar mass and evolutionary age of the [WR] CS sample are 0.595 ± 0.13 M\odot and 9449 ± 2437 yr, respectively, with a mean nebular dynamical age of 7270 ± 1380 yr. In addition, we recognized that the color of the majority (∼ 85%) of [WR] CSs tends to be red rather than their genuine blue color. The analysis showed that two-thirds of the apparent red color of most [WR]s is attributed to the interstellar extinction whereas the other one-third is due to the PN self-extinction effect.