Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Probing The Rotational Velocity Of Galactic Wo Stars With Spectropolarimetry, H. F. Stevance, Richard Igance, P. A. Crowther, J. R. Maund, B. Davies, G. Rate

ETSU Faculty Works

Oxygen sequence Wolf-Rayet stars (WO) are thought to be the final evolution phase of some high-mass stars, as such they may be the progenitors of Type Ic SNe as well as potential progenitors of broad-lined Ic and long gamma-ray bursts. We present the first spectropolarimetric observations of the Galactic WO stars WR93b and WR102 obtained with FORS1 on the Very Large Telescope. We find no sign of a line effect, which could be expected if these stars were rapid rotators. We also place constraints on the amplitude of a potentially undetected line effect. This allows us to derive upper limits …