57 research outputs found
The Effect of Porosity on X-ray Emission Line Profiles from Hot-Star Winds
We investigate the degree to which the nearly symmetric form of X-ray
emission lines seen in Chandra spectra of early-type supergiant stars could be
explained by a possibly porous nature of their spatially structured stellar
winds. Such porosity could effectively reduce the bound-free absorption of
X-rays emitted by embedded wind shocks, and thus allow a more similar
transmission of red- vs. blue-shifted emission from the back vs. front
hemispheres. For a medium consisting of clumps of size l and volume filling
factor f, in which the `porosity length' h=l/f increases with local radius as h
= h' r, we find that a substantial reduction in wind absorption requires a
quite large porosity scale factor h' > 1, implying large porosity lengths h >
r. The associated wind structure must thus have either a relatively large scale
l~ r, or a small volume filling factor f ~ l/r << 1, or some combination of
these. The relatively small-scale, moderate compressions generated by intrinsic
instabilities in line-driving seem unlikely to give such large porosity
lengths, leaving again the prospect of instead having to invoke a substantial
(ca. factor 5) downward revision in assumed mass-loss rates.Comment: 6 pages in apj-emulate; 3 figures; submitted to Ap
Deposing the Cool Corona of KPD 0005+5106
The ROSAT PSPC pulse height spectrum of the peculiar He-rich hot white dwarf
KPD 0005+5106 provided a great surprise when first analysed by Fleming, Werner
& Barstow (1993). It defied the best non-LTE modelling attempts in terms of
photospheric emission from He-dominated atmospheres including C, N and O and
was instead interpreted as the first evidence for a coronal plasma around a
white dwarf. We show here that a recent high resolution Chandra LETGS spectrum
has more structure than expected from a thermal bremsstrahlung continuum and
lacks the narrow lines of H-like and He-like C expected from a coronal plasma.
Moreover, a coronal model requires a total luminosity more than two orders of
magnitude larger than that of the star itself. Instead, the observed 20-80 AA
flux is consistent with photospheric models containing trace amounts of heavier
elements such as Fe. The soft X-ray flux is highly sensitive to the adopted
metal abundance and provides a metal abundance diagnostic. The weak X-ray
emission at 1 keV announced by O'Dwyer et al (2003) instead cannot arise from
the photosphere and requires alternative explanations. We echo earlier
speculation that such emission arises in a shocked wind. Despite the presence
of UV-optical O VIII lines from transitions between levels n=7-10, no X-ray O
VIII Ly alpha flux is detected. We show that O VIII Lyman photons can be
trapped by resonant scattering within the emitting plasma and destroyed by
photoelectric absorption.Comment: 15 Pages, 4 figures. Accepted for the Astrophysical Journa
Are There Magnetars in High Mass X-ray Binaries? The Case of SuperGiant Fast X-Ray Transients
In this paper we survey the theory of wind accretion in high mass X-ray
binaries hosting a magnetic neutron star and a supergiant companion.
We concentrate on the different types of interaction between the inflowing
wind matter and the neutron star magnetosphere that are relevant when accretion
of matter onto the neutron star surface is largely inhibited; these include the
inhibition through the centrifugal and magnetic barriers. Expanding on earlier
work, we calculate the expected luminosity for each regime and derive the
conditions under which transition from one regime to another can take place. We
show that very large luminosity swings (~10^4 or more on time scales as short
as hours) can result from transitions across different regimes.
The activity displayed by supergiant fast X-ray transients, a recently
discovered class of high mass X-ray binaries in our galaxy, has often been
interpreted in terms of direct accretion onto a neutron star immersed in an
extremely clumpy stellar wind. We show here that the transitions across the
magnetic and/or centrifugal barriers can explain the variability properties of
these sources as a results of relatively modest variations in the stellar wind
velocity and/or density. According to this interpretation we expect that
supergiant fast X-ray transients which display very large luminosity swings and
host a slowly spinning neutron star are characterized by magnetar-like fields,
irrespective of whether the magnetic or the centrifugal barrier applies.
Supergiant fast X-ray transients might thus provide a new opportunity to
detect and study magnetars in binary systems.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 16 pages, 6 figure
Chandra Detections of Two Quiescent Black Hole X-Ray Transients
Using the Chandra X-ray Observatory, we have detected the black hole
transients V4641 Sgr and XTE J1859+226 in their low luminosity, quiescent
states. The 0.3-8 keV luminosities are (4.0^(+3.3)_(-2.4))E31 (d/7 kpc)^2 erg/s
and (4.2^(+4.8)_(-2.2))E31 (d/11 kpc)^2 erg/s for V4641 Sgr and XTE J1859+226,
respectively. With the addition of these 2 systems, 14 out of the 15 transients
with confirmed black holes (via compact object mass measurements) now have
measured quiescent luminosities or sensitive upper limits. The only exception
is GRS 1915+105, which has not been in quiescence since its discovery in 1992.
The luminosities for V4641 Sgr and XTE J1859+226 are consistent with the median
luminosity of 2E31 erg/s for the systems with previous detections. Our analysis
suggests that the quiescent X-ray spectrum of V4641 Sgr is harder than for the
other systems in this group, but, due to the low statistical quality of the
spectrum, it is not clear if V4641 Sgr is intrinsically hard or if the column
density is higher than the interstellar value. Focusing on V4641 Sgr, we
compare our results to theoretical models for X-ray emission from black holes
in quiescence. Also, we obtain precise X-ray positions for V4641 Sgr and XTE
J1859+226 via cross-correlation of the X-ray sources detected near our targets
with IR sources in the 2 Micron All-Sky Survey catalog.Comment: 4 pages, Accepted by ApJ Letter
A detailed X-ray investigation of zeta Puppis I. The dataset and some preliminary results
Aims: zeta Puppis, one of the closest and brightest massive stars, was the
first early-type object observed by the current generation of X-ray
observatories. These data provided some surprising results, confirming partly
the theoretical predictions while simultaneously unveiling some problematic
mismatches with expectations. In this series of papers, we perform a thorough
study of zeta Puppis in X-rays, using a decade of XMM observations. Methods:
zeta Puppis was observed 18 times by XMM, totaling 1Ms in exposure. This
provides the highest-quality high-resolution X-ray spectrum of a massive star
to date, as well as a perfect dataset for studying X-ray variability in an
"archetype" object. Results: This first paper reports on the data reduction of
this unique dataset and provides a few preliminary results. On the one hand,
the analysis of EPIC low-resolution spectra shows the star to have a remarkably
stable X-ray emission from one observation to the next. On the other hand, the
fitting by a wind model of individual line profiles recorded by RGS confirms
the wavelength dependence of the line morphology.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, accepted for publication by A&
New Constraints on the Origin of the Short-Term Cyclical Variability of the Wolf-Rayet Star WR 46
The Wolf-Rayet star WR 46 is known to exhibit a very complex variability
pattern on relatively short time scales of a few hours. Periodic but
intermittent radial velocity shifts of optical lines as well as multiple
photometric periods have been found in the past. Non-radial pulsations, rapid
rotational modulation or the presence of a putative low-mass companion have
been proposed to explain the short-term behaviour. In an effort to unveil its
true nature, we observed WR 46 with FUSE (Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic
Explorer) over several short-term variability cycles. We found significant
variations on a time scale of ~8 hours in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) continuum,
in the blue edge of the absorption trough of the OVI {\lambda}{\lambda}1032,
1038 doublet P Cygni profile and in the SVI {\lambda}{\lambda}933, 944 P Cygni
absorption profile. We complemented these observations with X-ray and UV
light-curves and an X-ray spectrum from archival XMM-Newton (X-ray Multi-Mirror
Mission - Newton Space Telescope) data. The X-ray and UV light-curves show
variations on a time scale similar to the variability found in the FUV. We
discuss our results in the context of the different scenarios suggested to
explain the short-term variability of this object and reiterate that non-radial
pulsations is the most likely to occur.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
An X-ray Imaging Study of the Stellar Population in RCW49
We present the results of a high-resolution X-ray imaging study of the
stellar population in the Galactic massive star-forming region RCW49 and its
central OB association Westerlund 2. We obtained a 40 ks X-ray image of a
17'x17' field using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and deep NIR images using the
Infrared Survey Facility in a concentric 8'3x8'3 region. We detected 468 X-ray
sources and identified optical, NIR, and Spitzer Space Telescope MIR
counterparts for 379 of them. The unprecedented spatial resolution and
sensitivity of the X-ray image, enhanced by optical and infrared imaging data,
yielded the following results: (1) The central OB association Westerlund 2 is
resolved for the first time in the X-ray band. X-ray emission is detected from
all spectroscopically-identified early-type stars in this region. (2) Most
(86%) X-ray sources with optical or infrared identifications are cluster
members in comparison with a control field in the Galactic Plane. (3) A loose
constraint (2--5 kpc) for the distance to RCW49 is derived from the mean X-ray
luminosity of T Tauri stars. (4) The cluster X-ray population consists of
low-mass pre--main-sequence and early-type stars as obtained from X-ray and NIR
photometry. About 30 new OB star candidates are identified. (5) We estimate a
cluster radius of 6'--7' based on the X-ray surface number density profiles.
(6) A large fraction (90%) of cluster members are identified individually using
complimentary X-ray and MIR excess emission. (7) The brightest five X-ray
sources, two Wolf-Rayet stars and three O stars, have hard thermal spectra.Comment: 19 pages, 17 figures, 4 tables. ApJ in pres
Spitzer/MIPS 24 micron Detection of Photoevaporating Protoplanetary Disks
We present 24 micron images of three protoplanetary disks being
photoevaporated around high mass O type stars. These objects have ``cometary''
structure where the dust pulled away from the disk by the photoevaporating flow
is forced away from the O star by photon pressure on the dust and heating and
ionization of the gas. Models of the 24 micron and 8 micron brightness profiles
agree with this hypothesis. These models show that the mass-loss rate needed to
sustain such a configuration is in agreement with or somewhat less than the
theoretical predictions for the photoevaporation process.Comment: 4 pages 4 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical
Journal Letter
Discovery of X-ray Emission from the Wolf-Rayet star WR142 of oxygen subtype
We report the discovery of weak yet hard X-ray emission from the Wolf-Rayet
(WR) star WR142 with the XMM-Newton X-ray telescope. Being of spectral subtype
WO2, WR142 is a massive star in a very advanced evolutionary stage, short
before its explosion as a supernova or gamma-ray burst. This is the first
detection of X-ray emission from a WO-type star. We rule out any serendipitous
X-ray sources within approx 1" of WR142. WR142 has an X-ray luminosity of
L_X=7\times10^{30} erg/s, which constitutes only \lsim 10^{-8} of its
bolometric luminosity. The hard X-ray spectrum suggests a plasma temperature of
about 100 MK. Commonly, X-ray emission from stellar winds is attributed to
embedded shocks due to the intrinsic instability of the radiation driving. From
qualitative considerations we conclude that this mechanism cannot account for
the hardness of the observed radiation. There are no hints for a binary
companion. Therefore the only remaining, albeit speculative explanation must
refer to magnetic activity. Possibly related, WR142 seems to rotate extremely
fast, as indicated by the unusually round profiles of its optical emission
lines. Our detection implies that the wind of WR142 must be relatively
transparent to X-rays, which can be due to strong wind ionization, wind
clumping, or non-spherical geometry from rapid rotation.Comment: accepted ApJ
A mass-loss rate determination for zeta Puppis from the quantitative analysis of X-ray emission line profiles
We fit every emission line in the high-resolution Chandra grating spectrum of
zeta Pup with an empirical line profile model that accounts for the effects of
Doppler broadening and attenuation by the bulk wind. For each of sixteen lines
or line complexes that can be reliably measured, we determine a best-fitting
fiducial optical depth, tau_* = kappa*Mdot/4{pi}R_{\ast}v_{\infty}, and place
confidence limits on this parameter. These sixteen lines include seven that
have not previously been reported on in the literature. The extended wavelength
range of these lines allows us to infer, for the first time, a clear increase
in tau_* with line wavelength, as expected from the wavelength increase of
bound-free absorption opacity. The small overall values of tau_*, reflected in
the rather modest asymmetry in the line profiles, can moreover all be fit
simultaneously by simply assuming a moderate mass-loss rate of 3.5 \pm 0.3
\times 10^{-6} Msun/yr, without any need to invoke porosity effects in the
wind. The quoted uncertainty is statistical, but the largest source of
uncertainty in the derived mass-loss rate is due to the uncertainty in the
elemental abundances of zeta Pup, which affects the continuum opacity of the
wind, and which we estimate to be a factor of two. Even so, the mass-loss rate
we find is significantly below the most recent smooth-wind H-alpha mass-loss
rate determinations for zeta Pup, but is in line with newer determinations that
account for small-scale wind clumping. If zeta Pup is representative of other
massive stars, these results will have important implications for stellar and
galactic evolution.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Monthly Notices of the Royal
Astronomical Society. 17 pages, including 14 figures (7 color
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