19 research outputs found
A Spectroscopic Study of Mass Outflows in the Interacting Binary RY Scuti
The massive interacting binary RY Scuti is an important representative of an
active mass-transferring system that is changing before our eyes and which may
be an example of the formation of a Wolf-Rayet star through tidal stripping.
Utilizing new and previously published spectra, we present examples of how a
number of illustrative absorption and emission features vary during the binary
orbit. We identify spectral features associated with each component, calculate
a new, double-lined spectroscopic binary orbit, and find masses of 7.1 +/- 1.2
M_sun for the bright supergiant and 30.0 +/- 2.1 M_sun for the hidden massive
companion. Through tomographic reconstruction of the component spectra from the
composite spectra, we confirm the O9.7 Ibpe spectral class of the bright
supergiant and discover a B0.5 I spectrum associated with the hidden massive
companion; however, we suggest that the latter is actually the spectrum of the
photosphere of the accretion torus immediately surrounding the massive
companion. We describe the complex nature of the mass loss flows from the
system in the context of recent hydrodynamical models for beta Lyr, leading us
to conclude RY Scuti has matter leaving the system in two ways: 1) a bipolar
outflow from winds generated by the hidden massive companion, and 2) mass from
the bright O9.7 Ibpe supergiant flowing from the region near the L2 point to
fill out a large, dense circumbinary disk. This circumbinary disk (radius ~ 1
AU) may feed the surrounding double-toroidal nebula (radius ~ 2000 AU).Comment: 41 pages with 7 tables and 11 figures, accepted to Ap