WR 102ea
Star in the constellation Sagittarius
WR 102ea is a Wolf-Rayet star in the Sagittarius constellation. It is the third most luminous star in the Quintuplet Cluster after WR 102hb. With a luminosity of 2,500,000 times solar, it is also one of the most luminous stars known. Despite the high luminosity it can only be observed at infra-red wavelengths due to the dimming effect of intervening dust on visual light.
It is an evolved massive star which has an emission line spectrum from a strong stellar wind caused by high luminosity and the presence of elements heavier than hydrogen in the photosphere. The spectrum is dominated by ionised helium and nitrogen lines due to convectional and rotational mixing of fusion products to the surface of the star. However it is still in a core hydrogen burning phase and hydrogen lines are also visible in the spectrum, in contrast to WN stars without hydrogen which are older, less massive, and less luminous. Despite being a relatively unevolved star, WR 102ea has lost over half its mass already.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “WR 102ea”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Quintuplet cluster.jpg by Don Figer (STScI) and NASA, Public domain
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