Wolf-Rayet star

Wolf-Rayet star
/woolf"ruy ay"/; Fr. /vawlf rddann ye"/
a very hot (35,000-100,000 K) and luminous star in the early stages of evolution, with broad emission lines in its spectrum. Also called W-R star.
[1885-90; after French astronomers Charles J. E. Wolf (1827-1918) and Georges Rayet (1839-1906)]

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 any of a class of extremely hot, white stars having peculiar spectra thought to indicate either great turbulence within the star or a steady, voluminous ejection of material. A typical Wolf-Rayet star is several times the diameter of the Sun and thousands of times more luminous. Only a few hundred are known, located mostly in the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy. The type was first distinguished in 1867 by the French astronomers Charles-Joseph-Étienne Wolf and Georges-Antoine-Pons Rayet.

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  • Wolf-Rayet star — Wolf Rayet stars (often referred to as WR stars) are evolved, massive stars (over 20 solar masses), which are losing mass rapidly by means of a very strong stellar wind, with speeds up to 2000 km/s. While our own Sun loses approximately 10−14 of… …   Wikipedia

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  • wolf-rayet star — ¦wu̇lfrīˈā noun Usage: usually capitalized W&R Etymology: after Charles Wolf died 1918 & Georges Rayet died 1906 French astronomers : any of a class of stars whose spectra are characterized by very broad bright lines especially of helium, carbon …   Useful english dictionary

  • Wolf-Rayet star — /wʊlf ˈreɪət sta/ (say woolf rayuht stah) noun a massive star which is losing mass rapidly because of a strong stellar wind, which may result in the creation of a collapsar leading to a black hole and a gamma ray burst. {named after French… …  

  • Wolf-Rayet star — noun Any of a class of young, very hot stars that have a very strong stellar wind and consequent broad, strong emission lines …   Wiktionary

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  • Wolf-Rayet-Stern — Wolf Rayet Sterne, in der Fachliteratur auch WR Sterne abgekürzt, sind die freigelegten Kerne ehemals massereicher Sterne. Sie sind nach den französischen Astronomen Charles Wolf (1827–1918) und Georges Rayet (1839–1906) benannt. Wolf Rayet Stern …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Wolf-Rayet-Sterne — Dieser Artikel oder Abschnitt ist nicht hinreichend mit Belegen (Literatur, Webseiten oder Einzelnachweisen) versehen. Die fraglichen Angaben werden daher möglicherweise demnächst gelöscht. Hilf Wikipedia, indem du die Angaben recherchierst und… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Etoile Wolf-Rayet — Étoile Wolf Rayet Image du télescope spatial Hubble de la nébuleuse M1 67 autour de l étoile Wolf Rayet WR124 Une étoile Wolf Rayet (souvent abrégé en étoile WR) est une étoile chaude, massive et évoluée présentant un taux de perte de masse très… …   Wikipédia en Français

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