We present infrared aperture-masking interferometry (AMI) observations of newly formed dust from the colliding winds of the massive binary Wolf–Rayet system WR 137 with JWST using the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS). NIRISS AMI observations of WR 137 and a point-spread function calibrator star, HD 228337, were taken using the F380M and F480M filters in 2022 July and August as part of the Director's Discretionary Early Release Science program #1349. Interferometric observables (squared visibilities and closure phases) from the WR 137 "interferogram" were extracted and calibrated using three independent software tools: ImPlaneIA, AMICAL, and SAMpip. The analysis of the calibrated observables yielded consistent values except for slightly discrepant closure phases measured by ImPlaneIA. Based on all three sets of calibrated observables, images were reconstructed using three independent software tools: BSMEM, IRBis, and SQUEEZE. All reconstructed image combinations generated consistent images in both F380M and F480M filters. The reconstructed images of WR 137 reveal a bright central core with a ∼300 mas linear filament extending to the northwest. A geometric colliding-wind model with dust production constrained to the orbital plane of the binary system and enhanced as the system approaches periapsis provided a general agreement with the interferometric observables and reconstructed images. Based on a colliding-wind dust condensation analysis, we suggest that dust formation within the orbital plane of WR 137 is induced by enhanced equatorial mass loss from the rapidly rotating O9 companion star, whose axis of rotation is aligned with that of the orbit.
A First Look with JWST Aperture Masking Interferometry: Resolving Circumstellar Dust around the Wolf–Rayet Binary WR 137 beyond the Rayleigh Limit
- Creators
- Lau, Ryan M.
- Hankins, Matthew J.
- Sanchez-Bermudez, Joel
- Thatte, Deepashri
- Soulain, Anthony
- Cooper, Rachel A.
- Sivaramakrishnan, Anand
- Corcoran, Michael F.
- Greenbaum, Alexandra Z.
- Gull, Theodore R.
- Han, Yinuo
- Jones, Olivia C.
- Madura, Thomas
- Moffat, Anthony F. J.
- Morris, Mark R.
- Onaka, Takashi
- Russell, Christopher M. P.
- Richardson, Noel D.
- Smith, Nathan
- Tuthill, Peter
- Volk, Kevin
- Weigelt, Gerd
- Williams, Peredur M.
Abstract
Copyright and License
© 2024. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society. Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
R.M.L. would like to acknowledge the members of the entire W-R DustERS team for their valuable discussions and contributions to this work. We thank Amaya Moro-Martin, William Januszewki, Neill Reid, Margaret Meixner, and Bonnie Meinke for their support of the planning and execution of our DD-ERS program. We would also like to acknowledge the NIRISS instrument and MIRaGe teams for their support of our observation preparation and data analysis plans. We also thank Tomer Shenar for the correspondence on the stellar wind models of WR 137. We would also like to acknowledge the anonymous referee for the insightful feedback that has improved the quality and clarity of this work. A.F.J.M. is grateful to NSERC (Canada) for financial aid. N.D.R. is grateful for support from the Cottrell Scholar Award #CS-CSA-2023-143 sponsored by the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. J.S.-B. acknowledges the support received from the UNAM PAPIIT project IA 105023; and from the CONAHCyT "Ciencia de Frontera" project CF-2019/263975.
This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These observations are associated with program #1349. Support for program #1349 was provided by NASA through a grant from the Space Telescope Science Institute, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127. The material is based upon work supported by NASA under award No. 80GSFC21M0002.
All of the data presented in this paper were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes (MAST) at the Space Telescope Science Institute. The specific observations analyzed can be accessed via DOI:10.17909/ytb0-px48.
Facilities
JWST/NIRISS -
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Additional details
- ISSN
- 1538-4357
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
- Research Corporation for Science Advancement
- Cottrell Scholar CS-CSA-2023-143
- Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México
- IA 105023
- Consejo Nacional de Humanidades, Ciencias y Tecnologías
- CF-2019/263975
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- NAS 5-03127
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80GSFC21M0002
- Caltech groups
- Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC)