A massive helium star with a sufficiently strong magnetic field to form a magnetar
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Magnetars are highly magnetized neutron stars, the formation mechanism of which is unknown. Hot helium-rich stars with spectra dominated by emission lines are known as Wolf-Rayet stars. We observed the binary system HD 45166 using spectropolarimetry and reanalyzed its orbit using archival data. We found that the system contains a Wolf-Rayet star with a mass of 2 solar masses and a magnetic field of 43 kilogauss. Stellar evolution calculations indicate that this component will explode as a supernova, and that its magnetic field is strong enough for the supernova to leave a magnetar remnant. We propose that the magnetized Wolf-Rayet star formed by the merger of two lower-mass helium stars.
DOI: 10.57711/q1gc-wt58
Author: Shenar T, Wade GA, Marchant P, Bagnulo S, Bodensteiner J, Bowman DM, Gilkis A, Langer N, Nicolas-Chené A, Oskinova L, Van Reeth T, Sana H, St-Louis N, de Oliveira AS, Todt H, Toonen S
Language: English
Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6935982598
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