An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics
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A → radiation-driven wind of → Wolf-Rayet and → O stars, which is not homogeneous, and contains compressions and rarefactions in the form of density clumps. Observationally, wind clumping appears as moving, small-scale structures in spectral line profiles. Indirect indicators of wind clumping include: electron scattering wings of emission lines, too-weak observed UV line profiles, and shapes of X-ray lines. The most likely physical explanation for the presence of these clumps is an instability in radiatively-driven winds. The inclusion of a clumping factor in the models of W-R winds reduces the → mass loss rates by a factor ~ 2-4 relative to homogeneous models. See also → clumping factor.

→ clumpy; → wind.