WR 119
WR 119 is a Wolf–Rayet star located about 10,500 light years away in the constellation Scutum. WR 119 is classified as a WC9 star, belonging to the late-type carbon sequence of Wolf-Rayet stars. WR 119 is noteworthy for being the least luminous known Wolf-Rayet star, at just over. The most recent estimate is even lower, at just, based on the most recent analysis using Gaia DR2 data.
Properties
WR 119's properties are on the very edge of what may be possible for Wolf-Rayet stars, due to being so extremely dim. Modelling its spectrum using PoWR gives a temperature of. Factoring in the distance used in that study of, WR 119's luminosity is only, derived from Gaia DR2's parallax data. The corresponding radius is only, the smallest of the WC9 stars, less than half the size of the average WC9 star. WR 119's luminosity is also just 20% that of the average WC9 star's luminosity. The corresponding mass is just, the lowest mass for any Wolf-Rayet star derived using a mass-luminosity relation.In the visual wavelength, the star is also the dimmest of the WC9 stars, with a visual luminosity of just 3,130 L☉ because most of the is emitted at ultraviolet wavelengths due to WR 119's very high surface temperature.
WR 119 has a strong stellar wind, typical of Wolf-Rayet stars, but weaker than most WC stars. WR 119 loses 10−5.13 M☉ per year because of this stellar wind, which has a terminal velocity of 1,300 kilometres per second. WR 119 also emits a lot of dust, hence the "d" at the end of its spectral type, which may be an indication of binary status.