Spectroscopic Analysis of the Carbon-Rich [WC11] Star J0608-71 (Bullitt Lecturer)

Accidentally discovered during a search for quasars, J0608 is a low-mass Wolf-Rayet star on the outskirts of the Large Magellanic Cloud. Unlike other low-excitation [WC] stars it does not appear to be the central star of a planetary nebula. The spectrum is rich in C II emission lines, a surprising number of which originate from doubly excited autoionizing levels, and it originates in a stellar wind that also produces O II and He II absorption features. Numerous spectral features remain unidentified and details of the process by which a spectroscopic analysis is being made will be described.