Spectroscopic Monitoring in the Optical Wavelength Region of Nine WC9 Stars
Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Département de physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Institute for Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Gemini Office, Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, Canada
Abstract
We present a preliminary report of a spectroscopic monitoring campaign in the optical wavelength region of nine WC9 stars that we have carried out at the El Leoncito Observatory in Argentina in May-June 2009. The stars in our sample are not known binaries but have been shown from previous studies to present short-term spectroscopic variability. We confirm that large-scale, line-profile variability is indeed present for several stars in our sample with timescales shorter than ~1 day. A simple visual inspection of the shape of the line-profiles as a function of time does not allow us to conclude if the variations are periodic or not. A more thorough analysis of the data (measurements of the radial velocity, equivalent width, skewness, etc) will be required. Our ultimate goal is to determine the origin of the spectroscopic variability which could lead to new insight into the origin of the dust in presumably single WC9 stars.