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A Deep Survey for Faint Galactic Wolf-Rayet Stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 August 2017

M.M. Shara ,
M. Potter ,
A.F.J. Moffat  and
L.F. Smith
M.M. Shara
Affiliation:
1Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218
M. Potter
Affiliation:
1Space Telescope Science Institute, 3700 San Martin Drive, Baltimore, MD 21218
A.F.J. Moffat
Affiliation:
2University of Montreal, Dept. of Physics, CP. 6128, Succ. A., Montreal P Q H3C 3J7, Canada
L.F. Smith
Affiliation:
3Mount Stromlo and Siding Springs Observatory, Private Bag, P.O. Woden ACT 2606, Australia

Abstract

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Surveys of the Galaxy for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are mostly based on objective prism searches, and are generally complete to only about 13th visual magnitude. We are using direct narrowband and broadband Schmidt plates to survey large areas of the southern Milky Way for WR stars to 17-18th magnitude. We expect to find more than 50 new WR stars. The newly detected stars should be among the most distant and/or reddened known in the Galaxy. The survey is also designed to test the completeness of previous bright WR star surveys, and thus to help settle debates over the Initial Mass Function of the most massive stars. We have now located 13 new WR stars in a 40 square degree region in Carina where 24 WR stars were already known. A 25% incompleteness in detection of WR stars as close as 2-3 kpc is suggested.

Type
Session VIII. Inventory and Distribution
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 143: Wolf–Rayet Stars and Interrelations with other Massive Stars in Galaxies , 1991 , pp. 591 - 594
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1991