The Galactic WN stars
Spectral analyses with line-blanketed model atmospheres versus stellar
evolution models with and without rotation
W.-R. Hamann, G. Gräfener and A. Liermann
Context. Very massive stars pass through the Wolf-Rayet (WR)
stage before they finally explode. Details of their evolution have not
yet been safely established, and their physics are not well
understood. Their
spectral analysis requires adequate model atmospheres, which have been
developed step by step during the past decades and account in their
recent version for line blanketing by the millions of lines from iron
and iron-group elements. However, only very few WN stars have been
re-analyzed by means of line-blanketed models yet.
Aims.The quantitative spectral analysis of a large sample of Galactic WN stars with the most advanced generation of model atmospheres should provide an empirical basis for various studies about the origin, evolution, and physics of the Wolf-Rayet stars and their powerful winds.
Methods. We analyze a large sample of Galactic WN stars by means of the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmospheres, which account for iron line blanketing and clumping. The results are compared with a synthetic population, generated from the Geneva tracks for massive star evolution.
Results. We obtain a homogeneous set of stellar and atmospheric parameters for the Galactic WN stars, partly revising earlier results.
Conclusions.
Comparing the results of our spectral analyses
of the Galactic WN stars with the predictions of the Geneva evolutionary
calculations, we conclude that there is rough qualitative agreement.
However, the quantitative discrepancies are still severe, and there is
no preference for the tracks that account for the effects of rotation.
It seems that the evolution of massive stars is still not satisfactorily
understood.
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