[en] We present the results from two optical spectroscopic campaigns on colliding-wind binaries (CWB) which both occurred in 2009. The first one was on WR 140 (WC7pd + O5.5fc), the archetype of CWB, which experienced periastron passage of its highly elliptical 8-year orbit in January. The WR 140 campaign consisted of a unique and constructive collaboration between amateur and professional astronomers and took place at half a dozen locations, including Teide Observatory, Observatoire de Haute Provence, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Observatoire du Mont-Mégantic and at several small private observatories. The second campaign was on a selection of 5 short-period WR + O binaries not yet studied for colliding-wind effects: WR 12 (WN8h), WR 21 (WN5o + O7 V), WR 30 (WC6 + O7.5 V), WR 31 (WN4o + O8), and WR 47 (WN6o + O5). The campaign took place at Leoncito Observatory, Argentina, during 1 month. We provide updated values of most of these systems for the orbital parameters, new estimates for the WR and O star masses and new constraints on the mass-loss rates and colliding wind geometry.
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Fahed, R.
Moffat, A. F. J.
Zorec, J.
Eversberg, T.
Chené, A. N.
Alves, F.
Arnold, W.
Bergmann, T.
Corcoran, M. F.
Correia Viegas, N. G.
Dougherty, S. M.
Fernando, A.
Frémat, Y.
Gouveia Carreira, L. F.
Hunger, T.
Knapen, J. H.
Leadbeater, R.
Marques Dias, F.
Martayan, C.
Morel, Thierry ; Université de Liège - ULiège > GAPHE : Astrophysique observationnelle (sol et espace)
Pittard, J. M.
Pollock, A. M. T.
Rauw, Grégor ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Sciences spatiales
