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MWC560—a unique astrophysical object

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Abstract

DESPITE its interesting behaviour1,2, the object MWC560 has been little studied since its discovery 50 years ago during the Mount Wilson Observatory Hα emission-line surveys3. To rectify this situation we have made systematic spectral and photometric observations of this star. Spectra of the hydrogen absorption Balmer lines show remarkable variability: they indicate that some components have radial velocities as large as −6,000 km s−1, and the profiles are complex, showing pronounced variability on times-cales of a few days. Photometric observations show that the V-band brightness of the star has risen by about three magnitudes over the past 20 years; during our own observations, this brightness was seen to change by a few tenths of a magnitude. We speculate that MWC560 may be a binary system containing a red giant and a compact companion—possibly a white dwarf—and exhibiting jet-like ejections along the line of sight4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Astronomical Observatory Rozhen, PO Box 136, 4700, Smoljan, Bulgaria

    T. Tomov, D. Kolev & R. Zamanov

  2. Department of Astronomy, University of Sofia, 5 Anton Ivanov Street, 1126, Sofia, Bulgaria

    L. Georgiev

  3. Department of Astronomy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 72 Lenin Boulevard, 1784, Sofia, Bulgaria

    A. Antov

  4. National Observatory of Athens, Astronomical Institute, PO Box 20048, GR 11810, Athens, Greece

    Y. Bellas

Authors
  1. T. Tomov
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  2. D. Kolev
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  3. L. Georgiev
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  4. R. Zamanov
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  5. A. Antov
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  6. Y. Bellas
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Tomov, T., Kolev, D., Georgiev, L. et al. MWC560—a unique astrophysical object. Nature 346, 637–638 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1038/346637a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/346637a0

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