Wolf-Rayet star

American  

[woolf-rahy-ey, vawlf-ra-ye] / ˈwʊlf raɪˈeɪ, vɔlf raˈjɛ /

noun

1. a very hot (35,000–100,000 K) and luminous star in the early stages of evolution, with broad emission lines in its spectrum.

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Wolf-Rayet star British  

/ ˈwʊlfˈreɪət /

noun

1. any of a small class of very hot intensely luminous stars surrounded by a rapidly expanding envelope of gas

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Etymology

Origin of Wolf-Rayet star

1885–90; after French astronomers Charles J. E. Wolf (1827–1918) and Georges Rayet (1839–1906)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Wolf-Rayet star

Its features are strikingly similar to that of a Wolf-Rayet star, but HD 45166 has a different spectral signature altogether.

From Space Scoop ● Aug. 23, 2023

The Wolf-Rayet star WR 124, about 15,000 light years away from Earth in the constellation Sagitta, is one of the first observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope.

From Space Scoop ● Aug. 23, 2023

There may yet be more than one way that magnetars are formed — and we won't be around to check the team's math when the Wolf-Rayet star finally collapses in approximately 1 million years.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2023

"We propose that the magnetized Wolf-Rayet star formed by the merger of two lower-mass helium stars," the team wrote in the study.

From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2023

The case of the Wolf-Rayet star in HD 45166 is thought to be a particularly unusual one and not representative of a path all magnetars will follow.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 17, 2023