Nested Dust Shells around the Wolf-Rayet Binary WR 140 observed with JWST
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2022-10-12
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Lau, R.M., Hankins, M.J., Han, Y. et al. Nested dust shells around the Wolf–Rayet binary WR 140 observed with JWST. Nat Astron (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-022-01812-x
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Subject to Springer Nature re-use terms. Non-commercial use only.
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Abstract
Massive colliding-wind binaries that host a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star
present a potentially important source of dust and chemical enrichment
in the interstellar medium (ISM). However, the chemical composition
and survival of dust formed from such systems is not well understood. The carbon-rich WR (WC) binary WR 140 presents an ideal
astrophysical laboratory for investigating these questions given its welldefined orbital period and predictable dust-formation episodes every
7.93 years around periastron passage. We present observations from our
Early Release Science program (ERS1349) with the James Webb Space
Telescope (JWST) Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) Medium-Resolution
Spectrometer (MRS) and Imager that reveal the spectral and spatial signatures of nested circumstellar dust shells around WR 140.
MIRI MRS spectroscopy of the second dust shell and Imager detections of over 17 shells formed throughout the past & 130 years
confirm the survival of carbonaceous dust grains from WR 140 that
are likely carriers of “unidentified infrared” (UIR)-band features at 6.4
and 7.7 µm. The observations indicate that dust-forming WC binaries
can enrich the ISM with organic compounds and carbonaceous dust.