Mapping Dust Temperatures in Carbon-Rich Wolf-Rayet Binaries
Faculty Mentor Name
Noel Richardson
Format Preference
Poster
Abstract
Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WC) binary systems are prolific dust producers, ejecting material from colliding stellar winds to form persistent, spiraling shells. These structures, surviving for centuries, likely make significant contributions to the galactic dust budget. JWST MIRI imaging has shown detailed kinematics and morphologies of such shells, and this study further explores the thermal evolution of the dust.
Understanding how dust temperatures change with distance from the central binary contributes to constraining models of dust survival and interstellar medium enrichment. Temperature maps are generated for four WC systems—WR48a, WR112, WR125, and WR137—using JWST/MIRI imaging at 7.7 μm, 15 μm, and 21 μm. A Python pipeline is employed to construct system-specific point spread functions, deconvolve and reconvolve the data to a common resolution, and apply Planck-function ratios to generate temperature maps across each pixel in the images.
These maps enable the tracing of cooling gradients, quantifying the relation between shell morphology and dust thermal properties, and assessing how long WC dust persists before mixing into the interstellar medium. Preliminary results suggest a measurable temperature decline across shells, with implications for dust grain survival and transport.
Mapping Dust Temperatures in Carbon-Rich Wolf-Rayet Binaries
Carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WC) binary systems are prolific dust producers, ejecting material from colliding stellar winds to form persistent, spiraling shells. These structures, surviving for centuries, likely make significant contributions to the galactic dust budget. JWST MIRI imaging has shown detailed kinematics and morphologies of such shells, and this study further explores the thermal evolution of the dust.
Understanding how dust temperatures change with distance from the central binary contributes to constraining models of dust survival and interstellar medium enrichment. Temperature maps are generated for four WC systems—WR48a, WR112, WR125, and WR137—using JWST/MIRI imaging at 7.7 μm, 15 μm, and 21 μm. A Python pipeline is employed to construct system-specific point spread functions, deconvolve and reconvolve the data to a common resolution, and apply Planck-function ratios to generate temperature maps across each pixel in the images.
These maps enable the tracing of cooling gradients, quantifying the relation between shell morphology and dust thermal properties, and assessing how long WC dust persists before mixing into the interstellar medium. Preliminary results suggest a measurable temperature decline across shells, with implications for dust grain survival and transport.