Bibcode
Lennon, D. J.; Evans, C. J.; van der Marel, R. P.; Anderson, J.; Platais, I.; Herrero, A.; de Mink, S. E.; Sana, H.; Sabbi, E.; Bedin, L. R.; Crowther, P. A.; Langer, N.; Ramos Lerate, M.; del Pino, A.; Renzo, M.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Schneider, F. R. N.
Referencia bibliográfica
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 619, id.A78, 7 pp.
Fecha de publicación:
11
2018
Revista
Número de citas
35
Número de citas referidas
33
Descripción
A previous spectroscopic study identified the very massive O2 III star
VFTS 16 in the Tarantula Nebula as a runaway star based on its peculiar
line-of-sight velocity. We use the Gaia DR2 catalog to measure the
relative proper motion of VFTS 16 and nearby bright stars to test if
this star might have been ejected from the central cluster, R136, via
dynamical ejection. We find that the position angle and magnitude of the
relative proper motion (0.338±0.046 mas yr-1, or
approximately 80±11 km s-1) of VFTS 16 are consistent
with ejection from R136 approximately 1.5±0.2 Myr ago, very soon
after the cluster was formed. There is some tension with the presumed
age of VFTS 16 that, from published stellar parameters, cannot be
greater than 0.9+0.3-0.2 Myr. Older ages for this
star would appear to be prohibited due to the absence of He I lines in
its optical spectrum, since this sets a firm lower limit on its
effective temperature. The dynamical constraints may imply an unusual
evolutionary history for this object, perhaps indicating it is a merger
product. Gaia DR2 also confirms that another very massive star in the
Tarantula Nebula, VFTS 72 (alias BI 253; O2 III-V(n)((f*)), is also a
runaway on the basis of its proper motion as measured by Gaia. While its
tangential proper motion (0.392±0.062 mas yr-1 or
93±15 km s-1) would be consistent with dynamical
ejection from R136 approximately 1 Myr ago, its position angle is
discrepant with this direction at the 2σ level. From their Gaia
DR2 proper motions we conclude that the two ˜100 M⊙
O2 stars, VFTS 16 and VFTS 72, are fast runaway stars, with space
velocities of around 100 km s-1 relative to R136 and the
local massive star population. The dynamics of VFTS 16 are consistent
with it having been ejected from R136, and this star therefore sets a
robust lower limit on the age of the central cluster of ˜1.3 Myr.
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