The enigmatic winds of Wolf-Rayet stars: Results from dynamically consistent atmosphere modelling

Understand

Line-driven stellar winds are ubiquitous among hot massive stars.

• In some cases they can become so strong, that the whole star is cloaked by an optically thick wind.
• The strong outflow gives rise to large emission lines, defining the class of so-called Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars.
• While being major players in the evolution of massive stars, the formation of heavy black holes,and the distribution of elements, the occurrence and nature of WR winds is still quite enigmatic.