Photometric variability of WC9 stars

TL;DR

This study systematically investigates the photometric variability of WC9 stars, revealing that most exhibit low variability levels, with some showing correlated brightness and color changes linked to dust formation.

Contribution

First systematic survey of WC9 stars' variability, providing insights into dust formation and variability levels in these stars.

Findings

Nearly half of the stars show no significant variability.

Correlated brightness and color variations suggest dust formation processes.

Derived dust grain size of approximately 0.1 micrometers for WR76.

Abstract

Do some Wolf-Rayet stars owe their strong winds to something else besides radiation pressure? The answer to this question is still not entirely obvious, especially in certain Wolf-Rayet subclasses, mainly WN8 and WC9. Both of these types of Wolf-Rayet stars are thought to be highly variable, as suggested by observations, possibly due to pulsations. However, only the WN8 stars have so far been vigorously and systematically investigated for variability. We present here the results of a systematic survey during 3 consecutive weeks of 19 Galactic WC9 stars and 1 WC8 star for photometric variability in two optical bands, V and I. Of particular interest are the correlated variations in brightness and colour index in the context of carbon-dust formation, which occurs frequently in WC9 and some WC8 stars. In the most variable case, WR76, we used this information to derive a typical dust grain size of ~ 0.1 um. However, most photometric variations occur at surprisingly low levels and in fact almost half of our sample shows no significant variability at all above the instrumental level (sigma ~ 0.005 - 0.01 mag).