Wolf–Rayet stars in the Antennae unveiled by MUSE

ABSTRACT We present the analysis of archival Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of the interacting galaxies NGC 4038/39 (a.k.a. the Antennae) at a distance of 18.1 Mpc. Up to 38 young star-forming complexes with evident contribution from Wolf–Rayet (WR)...

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Published in:Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 2021-01, Vol.500 (2), p.2076-2095
Main Authors: Gómez-González, V M A, Mayya, Y D, Toalá, J A, Arthur, S J, Zaragoza-Cardiel, J, Guerrero, M A
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:ABSTRACT We present the analysis of archival Very Large Telescope (VLT) Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) observations of the interacting galaxies NGC 4038/39 (a.k.a. the Antennae) at a distance of 18.1 Mpc. Up to 38 young star-forming complexes with evident contribution from Wolf–Rayet (WR) stars are unveiled. We use publicly available templates of Galactic WR stars in conjunction with available photometric extinction measurements to quantify and classify the WR population in each star-forming region, on the basis of its nearly Solar oxygen abundance. The total estimated number of WR stars in the Antennae is 4053 ± 84, of which there are 2021 ± 60 WNL and 2032 ± 59 WC-types. Our analysis suggests a global WC to WN-type ratio of 1.01 ± 0.04, which is consistent with the predictions of the single star evolutionary scenario in the most recent bpass stellar population synthesis models.
ISSN:0035-8711
1365-2966
DOI:10.1093/mnras/staa3304