2024/12/17 by Ryan M. T. White, Peter Tuthill, White, Ryan M. T. +1 · 1 voice
Earth and Planetary Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Geophysics and Gravity Measurements #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph.HE #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2412.12534
openalex publication_date 2024/12/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Wolf-Rayet stars embody the final stable phase of the most massive stars immediately before their evolution is terminated in a supernova explosion. They are responsible for some of the most extreme and energetic phenomena in stellar physics, driving fast and dense stellar winds that are powered by extraordinarily high mass-loss rates arising from their near Eddington limit luminosity. When found in binary systems comprised of two hot wind-driving components, a colliding wind binary (CWB) is formed, manifesting dramatic observational signatures from the radio to X-rays. Among the wealth of rare and exotic phenomenology associated with CWBs, perhaps the most unexpected is the production of copious amounts of warm dust. A necessary condition seems to be one binary component being a carbon-rich WR star -- providing favorable chemistry for dust nucleation from the wind -- however a detailed understanding of the physics underlying this phenomenon has not been established.