Wolf–Rayet stars
E290082
Wolf–Rayet stars are extremely hot, massive, and luminous evolved stars characterized by powerful stellar winds and strong emission lines from heavy elements in their spectra.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Wolf–Rayet stars canonical | 3 |
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
evolved star
ⓘ
massive star ⓘ stellar object ⓘ |
| canBeProgenitorOf |
Type Ib supernova
ⓘ
Type Ic supernova ⓘ long gamma-ray burst ⓘ |
| canProduce | strong X-ray emission in binaries ⓘ |
| discoveredAt | Paris Observatory ⓘ |
| discoveredIn | 1867 ⓘ |
| evolutionaryStage |
core helium-burning phase
ⓘ
post-main-sequence ⓘ |
| hasMassLossRate | 10^-5 to 10^-4 solar masses per year ⓘ |
| hasPopulation | Population I star ⓘ |
| hasStellarWind | powerful stellar wind ⓘ |
| hasSubtype |
WC star
ⓘ
WN star ⓘ WO star ⓘ |
| hasTerminalWindVelocity | 1000 to 5000 km/s ⓘ |
| location |
Large Magellanic Cloud
ⓘ
Milky Way ⓘ
surface form:
Milky Way galaxy
Small Magellanic Cloud ⓘ |
| metallicityDependence | more common at high metallicity ⓘ |
| namedAfter |
Charles Wolf
ⓘ
Georges Rayet ⓘ |
| occursIn |
spiral arms of galaxies
ⓘ
star-forming regions ⓘ starburst galaxies ⓘ |
| oftenInBinarySystemWith |
O-type star
ⓘ
massive companion star ⓘ |
| progenitorType | O-type star ⓘ |
| roleInGalaxies |
source of chemical enrichment
ⓘ
source of ionizing radiation ⓘ source of mechanical feedback ⓘ |
| spectralCharacteristic |
broad emission lines
ⓘ
lines of carbon ⓘ lines of helium ⓘ lines of nitrogen ⓘ lines of oxygen ⓘ strong emission lines ⓘ |
| spectralClassSystem | WN WC WO classification ⓘ |
| surfaceComposition |
enriched in heavy elements
ⓘ
helium-rich ⓘ hydrogen-poor ⓘ |
| typicalEffectiveTemperature | 30000 to 200000 K ⓘ |
| typicalLuminosity | 10^5 to 10^6 times solar luminosity ⓘ |
| typicalMass | greater than 20 solar masses ⓘ |
| variability | often photometrically variable ⓘ |
| WC star | carbon-sequence Wolf–Rayet star ⓘ |
| WN star | nitrogen-sequence Wolf–Rayet star ⓘ |
| WO star | oxygen-sequence Wolf–Rayet star ⓘ |
Referenced by (3)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.