Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-m8s7h Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-20T12:27:53.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Wolf-Rayet galaxies: the past is prologue

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

Peter S. Conti
Peter S. Conti*
Affiliation:
JILA, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0440, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Wolf-Rayet galaxies are those starburst systems in which the presence of Wolf-Rayet stars is inferred from the appearance of broad emission lines, notably λ4686 HeII. The ages of the bursts are only a few Myr when WR stars are present. Many (all?) of these starburst galaxies are interacting or merging systems. This talk will review the methods used to estimate the hot star populations in these galaxies, with emphasis on optical spectrophotometry. It will be important to keep in mind that the discovery of WR stars in starburst galaxies is highly dependent on spectral resolution, signal to noise, and the local properties of the object since one is searching for broad but weak emission lines superimposed upon a galaxy continuum. A brief comparison of the inferred numbers of O-type and WR stars in a galaxy, compared to the predictions of the most recent burst models, reveals good agreement in most cases. The exceptions might be understood in terms of geometric dilution (i.e., the stars and the ionized nebular gas are not co-spatial).

Type
Part 5. Wolf-Rayet stars and other massive stars in starburst galaxies: the case of Wolf-Rayet galaxies (integrated spectra)
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 193: Wolf-Rayet Phenomena in Massive Stars and Starburst Galaxies , 1999 , pp. 507 - 516
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of the Pacific 1999 

References

Allen, D.A., Wright, A.E., Goss, W.M. 1976, MNRAS 177, 91 Google Scholar
Conti, P.S. 1991, ApJ 377, 115 Google Scholar
Conti, P.S., Leitherer, C., Vacca, W.D. 1996, ApJ 461, L87 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Contini, T. 1999, these Proceedings Google Scholar
Crowther, P.A., Beck, S.C., Willis, A.J., Conti, P.S., Morris, P.W., Sutherland, R.S. 1999, MNRAS in press Google Scholar
Johnson, K., Vacca, W.D., Leitherer, C., Conti, P.S. 1999, in preparation Google Scholar
Joseph, R.D. 1999, these Proceedings Google Scholar
Leitherer, C. 1999, these Proceedings Google Scholar
Leitherer, C. Heckman, T.M. 1995, ApJS 73, 1 CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leitherer, C., Robert, C., Heckman, T.M. 1995, ApJS 99, 173 Google Scholar
Leitherer, C., Vacca, W.D., Conti, P.S., Filippenko, A.V., Robert, C., Sargent, W.L.W. 1996, ApJ 465, 717 Google Scholar
Schaerer, D. Vacca, W.D. 1998, ApJ 497, 618 Google Scholar
Schaerer, D., Contini, T., Kunth, D. 1999, A&A 341, 399 Google Scholar
Schaerer, D. Contini, T., Pindao, M. 1999, A&AS 136, 35 Google Scholar
Schaerer, D. 1999, these Proceedings Google Scholar
Stasinska, G. 1999, these Proceedings Vacca, W.D. 1994, ApJ 421, 140 Google Scholar
Vacca, W.D., Conti, P.S. 1992, ApJ 401, 543 Google Scholar
Vacca, W.D., Robert, C., Leitherer, C., Conti, R.S. 1995, ApJ 444, 647 Google Scholar
Vacca, W.D., Garmany, C.D., Shull, M.J. 1996, ApJ 460, 914 Google Scholar