---
_id: '13474'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: Recent surveys of the Magellanic Clouds have revealed a subtype of Wolf–Rayet
    (WR) star with peculiar properties. WN3/O3 spectra exhibit both WR-like emission
    and O3 V-like absorption – but at lower luminosity than O3 V or WN stars. We examine
    the projected spatial distribution of WN3/O3 stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
    as compared to O-type stars. Surprisingly, WN3/O3 stars are among the most isolated
    of all classes of massive stars; they have a distribution similar to red supergiants
    dominated by initial masses of 10–15 M⊙, and are far more dispersed than classical
    WR stars or luminous blue variables. Their lack of association with clusters of
    O-type stars suggests strongly that WN3/O3 stars are not the descendants of single
    massive stars (30 M⊙ or above). Instead, they are likely products of interacting
    binaries at lower initial mass (10–18 M⊙). Comparison with binary models suggests
    a probable origin with primaries in this mass range that were stripped of their
    H envelopes through non-conservative mass transfer by a low-mass secondary. We
    show that model spectra and positions on the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram for binary-stripped
    stars are consistent with WN3/O3 stars. Monitoring radial velocities with high-resolution
    spectra can test for low-mass companions or runaway velocities. With lower initial
    mass and environments that avoid very massive stars, the WN3/O3 stars fit expectations
    for progenitors of Type Ib and possibly Type Ibn supernovae.
article_processing_charge: No
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: Nathan
  full_name: Smith, Nathan
  last_name: Smith
- first_name: Ylva Louise Linsdotter
  full_name: Götberg, Ylva Louise Linsdotter
  id: d0648d0c-0f64-11ee-a2e0-dd0faa2e4f7d
  last_name: Götberg
  orcid: 0000-0002-6960-6911
- first_name: Selma E
  full_name: de Mink, Selma E
  last_name: de Mink
citation:
  ama: Smith N, Götberg YLL, de Mink SE. Extreme isolation of WN3/O3 stars and implications
    for their evolutionary origin as the elusive stripped binaries. <i>Monthly Notices
    of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. 2018;475(1):772-782. doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181">10.1093/mnras/stx3181</a>
  apa: Smith, N., Götberg, Y. L. L., &#38; de Mink, S. E. (2018). Extreme isolation
    of WN3/O3 stars and implications for their evolutionary origin as the elusive
    stripped binaries. <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>. Oxford
    University Press. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181">https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181</a>
  chicago: Smith, Nathan, Ylva Louise Linsdotter Götberg, and Selma E de Mink. “Extreme
    Isolation of WN3/O3 Stars and Implications for Their Evolutionary Origin as the
    Elusive Stripped Binaries.” <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>.
    Oxford University Press, 2018. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181">https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181</a>.
  ieee: N. Smith, Y. L. L. Götberg, and S. E. de Mink, “Extreme isolation of WN3/O3
    stars and implications for their evolutionary origin as the elusive stripped binaries,”
    <i>Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 475, no. 1. Oxford
    University Press, pp. 772–782, 2018.
  ista: Smith N, Götberg YLL, de Mink SE. 2018. Extreme isolation of WN3/O3 stars
    and implications for their evolutionary origin as the elusive stripped binaries.
    Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. 475(1), 772–782.
  mla: Smith, Nathan, et al. “Extreme Isolation of WN3/O3 Stars and Implications for
    Their Evolutionary Origin as the Elusive Stripped Binaries.” <i>Monthly Notices
    of the Royal Astronomical Society</i>, vol. 475, no. 1, Oxford University Press,
    2018, pp. 772–82, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181">10.1093/mnras/stx3181</a>.
  short: N. Smith, Y.L.L. Götberg, S.E. de Mink, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical
    Society 475 (2018) 772–782.
date_created: 2023-08-03T10:14:47Z
date_published: 2018-03-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2023-08-09T12:17:34Z
day: '01'
doi: 10.1093/mnras/stx3181
extern: '1'
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '1704.03516'
fulldoi: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181
intvolume: '       475'
issue: '1'
keyword:
- Space and Planetary Science
- Astronomy and Astrophysics
language:
- iso: eng
main_file_link:
- open_access: '1'
  url: https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx3181
month: '03'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
page: 772-782
publication: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1365-2966
  issn:
  - 0035-8711
publication_status: published
publisher: Oxford University Press
quality_controlled: '1'
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Extreme isolation of WN3/O3 stars and implications for their evolutionary origin
  as the elusive stripped binaries
type: journal_article
user_id: 2DF688A6-F248-11E8-B48F-1D18A9856A87
volume: 475
year: '2018'
...