High resolution radio observations of the colliding-wind binary WR140

Abstract

Milli-arcsecond resolution Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the archetype WR+O star colliding-wind binary (CWB) system WR140 are presented for 23 epochs between orbital phases 0.74 and 0.97. At 8.4 GHz, the emission in the wind-collision region (WCR) is clearly resolved as a bow-shaped arc that rotates as the orbit progresses. We interpret this rotation as due to the O star moving from SE to approximately E of the WR star, which leads to solutions for the orbit inclination of 122+/-5 deg, the longitude of the ascending node of 353+/-3 deg, and an orbit semi-major axis of 9.0+/-0.5 mas. The distance to WR140 is determined to be 1.85+/-0.16 kpc, which requires the O star to be a supergiant. The inclination implies the mass of the WR and O star to be 20+/-4 and 54+/-10 solar masses respectively. We determine a wind-momentum ratio of 0.22, with an expected half-opening angle for the WCR of 63 deg, consistent with 65+/-10 deg derived from the VLBA observations. Total flux measurements from Very Large Array (VLA) observations show the radio emission from WR140 is very closely the same from one orbit to the next, pointing strongly toward emission, absorption and cooling mechanism(s) that are controlled largely by the orbital motion. The synchrotron spectra evolve dramatically through the orbital phases observed, exhibiting both optically thin and optically thick emission. We discuss a number of absorption and cooling mechanisms that may determine the evolution of the synchrotron spectrum with orbital phase.