Physical and Wind Properties of [WC] Stars

TL;DR

This paper reviews the properties of [WC] Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebulae, highlighting differences from massive WC stars, and discusses their wind properties, abundances, and evolutionary links.

Contribution

It provides a comparative analysis of [WC] stars and their massive counterparts, emphasizing the role of stellar winds and surface gravity in their spectral differences.

Findings

[WO]-type stars have weaker stellar winds due to higher surface gravity.

Late- and early-type [WC] and [WO] stars show similar abundance ranges.

[WC] stars are likely progenitors of PG1159 stars.

Abstract

We review the properties of carbon-sequence ([WC]) Wolf-Rayet central stars of planetary nebulae (CSPNe). Differences between the subtype distribution of [WC] stars and their massive WC cousins are discussed. We conclude that [WO]-type differ from early-type [WC] stars as a result of weaker stellar winds due to high surface gravities, and that late- and early-type [WC] and [WO] stars generally span a similar range in abundances, X(He) ~ X(C) >> X(O), consistent with a late thermal pulse, and likely progenitors to PG1159 stars.