Infrared photometry of the probable triple WC4 ( +O ?
) +O8I : Wolf-Rayet system HD 36402 ( = BAT99–38 ) in the Large Magellanic Cloud ( LMC ) shows emission characteristic of heated dust .
The dust emission is variable on a time-scale of years , with a period near 4.7 yr , possibly associated with orbital motion of the O8 supergiant and the inner P \simeq 3.03 -d WC4+O binary .
The phase of maximum dust emission is close to that of the X-ray minimum , consistent with both processes being tied to colliding wind effects in an elliptical binary orbit .
It is evident that Wolf-Rayet dust formation occurs also in metal-poor environments .