The Wolf–Rayet star HD 192163 as a possible evolutionary progenitor of a low-mass X-ray binary

Abstract

We have used 46 high-resolution echelle spectra of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 192163 taken in 2005–2009 at the Cassegrain focus of the 2-m Zeiss-2000 telescope of the Shamakha Astrophysical Observatory to study profiles of the five strongest emission lines (HeII 4859, HeII 5411, CIV 5808, HeI 5875, (HeII + Hα) 6560). We also obtained four echelle spectrograms of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 191765 for a comparative study of the NaI 5890 (D2) and NaI 5896 (D1) interstellar absorption lines. The echelle spectrograms were reduced using the DECH20 code. We determined the equivalent widths, radial velocities, central intensities, and half-widths of the emission lines. We detected variations in the violetwing of the (HeII + Hα) 6560 emission band (between λ ∼ 6496 A and λ ∼ 6532 A). Our statistical analysis of the radial velocities available for the (HeII + Hα) 6560 emission band reveals a peak at the ∼1% level at the frequency ν = 0.195 d−1, corresponding to the period P = 5.128d. We also studied the NaI 5890 (D2) and NaI 5896 (D1) interstellar absorption lines, which are important for understanding the nature of the nebula NGC 6888, whose origin is related to HD 192163. Asymmetric profiles were found for the NaI 5890 and NaI 5896 interstellar absorption lines, interpreted as reflecting a contribution from NGC 6888 to these lines. We suggest that the detected profile variations of the (HeII + Hα) 6560 emission band and the periodic variations of its Doppler shifts (P = 5.128d) are due to the existence of a low-mass K-M star companion to the Wolf-Rayet star. HD 192163 is a possible evolutionary progenitor of a low-mass X-ray binary.