The nature of the brightest galactic center He I emission line star

We present near-infrared spectroscopy and unified atmosphere/wind models of the brightest He I 2.058 μm emission line star (hereafter denoted AF) in the Galactic center. The near-infrared spectrum of this star exhibits broad emission lines of He I and H, with the strongest line at 2.058 μm showing shallow P-Cygni absorption, strengthening the stellar wind interpretation for the origin of the lines. None of the higher excitation lines typical of classical Wolf-Rayet stars are detected. From the atmosphere models we conclude that the star is undergoing extensive mass loss (M˙∼6 to 10×10 −5 M ○. yr −1 ), has a luminosity of 2 to 3 10 5 L ○. , a moderate end velocity (V∞∼700 km s −1 ) and a strongly enhanced helium abundance (N He /N H >.5)