Abstract. The young stellar object MWC 297 is an embedded B1.5Ve star exhibiting strong hydrogen emission lines and a strong near-infrared continuum excess. This object has been observed with the VLT interferometer equipped with the AMBER instrument during its first commissioning run. VLTI/AMBER is currently the only near infrared interferometer which can observe spectrally dispersed visibilities. MWC 297 has been spatially resolved in the continuum with a visibility of 0.50 +0.08 −0.10 as well as in the Brγ emission line where the visibility decrease to a lower value of 0.33 ± 0.06. This change in the visibility with the wavelength can be interpreted by the presence of an optically thick disk responsible for the visibility in the continuum and of a stellar wind traced by the Brγ emission line and whose apparent size is 40% larger. We validate this interpretation by building a model of the stellar environment that combines a geometrically thin, optically thick accretion disk model consisting of gas and dust, and a latitude-dependent stellar wind outflowing above the disk surface. The continuum emission and visibilities obtained from this model are fully consistent with the interferometric AMBER data. They agree also with existing optical, near-infrared spectra and other broad-band near-infrared interferometric visibilities. We also reproduce the shape of the visibilities in the Brγ line as well as the profile of this line obtained at an higher spectral resolution with the VLT/ISAAC spectrograph, and those of the Hα and Hβ lines. The disk and wind models yield a consistent inclination of the system of approximately 20• . A picture emerges in which MWC 297 is surrounded by an equatorial flat disk that is possibly still accreting and an outflowing wind which has a much higher velocity in the polar region than at the equator. The VLTI/AMBER unique capability to measure spectral visibilities therefore allows us for the first time to compare the apparent geometry of a wind with the disk structure in a young stellar system.
Aims. We study the geometry and kinematics of the circumstellar environment of the Be star κ CMa in the Brγ emission line and its nearby continuum. Methods. We use the AMBER/VLTI instrument operating in the K band, which provides a spatial resolution of about 6 mas with a spectral resolution of 1500, to study the kinematics within the disk and to infer its rotation law. To obtain more kinematical constraints we also use a high spectral resolution Paβ line profile obtain in December 2005 at the Observatorio do Pico do Dios, Brazil and we compile V/R line profile variations and spectral energy distribution data points from the literature. Results. Using differential visibilities and differential phases across the Brγ line we detect an asymmetry in the disk. Moreover, we found that κ CMa seems difficult to fit within the classical scenario for Be stars, illustrated recently by α Arae observations, i.e. a fast rotating B star close to its breakup velocity surrounded by a Keplerian circumstellar disk with an enhanced polar wind. We discuss the possibility that κ CMa is a critical rotator with a Keplerian rotating disk and examine whether if the detected asymmetry can be interpreted within the "one-armed" viscous disk framework.
Massive stars deeply influence their surroundings by their luminosity and the injection of kinetic energy. So far, they have mostly been studied with spatially unresolved observations, although evidence of geometrical complexity of their wind are numerous. Interferometry can provide spatially resolved observations of massive stars and their immediate vicinity. Specific geometries (disks, jets, latitude-dependent winds) can be probed by this technique. The first observation of a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star (\gamma^2 Vel) with the AMBER/VLTI instrument yielded to a re-evaluation of its distance and an improved characterization of the stellar components, from a very limited data-set. This motivated our team to increase the number of WR targets observed with AMBER. We present here new preliminary results that encompass several spectral types, ranging from early WN to evolved dusty WC. We present unpublished data on WR79a, a massive star probably at the boundary between the O and Wolf- Rayet type, evidencing some Wolf-Rayet broad emission lines from an optically thin wind. We also present new data obtained on \gamma^2 Vel that can be compared to the up-to-date interferometry-based orbital parameters from North et al. (2007). We discuss the presence of a wind-wind collision zone in the system and provide preliminary analysis suggesting the presence of such a structure in the data. Then, we present data obtained on 2 dusty Wolf-Rayet stars: WR48a-b and WR118, the latter exhibiting some clues of a pinwheel-like structure from the visibility variations.Comment: This paper will be published in the proceeding of SPIE ``astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation: Optical and Infrared Interferometry'
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