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Are WNL stars tracers of high metallicity?

G. Gräfener, W. -R. Hamann

astro-pharXiv:astro-ph/0609672

Abstract

We present new atmosphere models for Wolf-Rayet stars that include a self-consistent solution of the wind hydrodynamics. We demonstrate that the formation of optically thick WR winds can be explained by radiative driving on Fe line opacities, implying a strong dependence on metallicity (Z). Z-dependent model calculations for late-type WN stars show that these objects are very massive stars close to the Eddington limit, and that their formation is strongly favored for high metallicity environments.

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