491 research outputs found
An exceptional X-ray view of the young open cluster NGC 6231: what XMM-Newton has taught us
Considered as the core of the Sco OB1 association, the young open cluster NGC
6231 harbours a rich O-type star population. In 2001, the XMM-Newton satellite
targeted the cluster for a nominal duration of about 180 ks. Thanks to the
detector sensitivity, the EPIC cameras provided an unprecedented X-ray view of
NGC 6231, revealing about 600 point-like sources. In this contribution, we
review the main results that have been obtained thanks to this unprecedented
data set. Concerning the O-type stars, we present the latest developments
related to the so-called 'canonical' Lx-Lbol relation. The dispersion around
this relation might actually be much smaller than previously thought. In our
data set, the sole mechanism that yields a significant deviation from this
scheme is wind interaction. It is also the sole mechanism that induces a
significant variation of the early-type star X-ray flux. In a second part of
this contribution, we probe the properties of the optically faint X-ray
sources. Most of them are believed to be low mass pre-main sequence stars.
Their analysis provides direct insight into the star formation history of the
cluster.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, to appear in "The X-Ray Universe 2005", ESA
Symposium held at El Escorial, Madrid (Spain), 26-30 Sep 200
VLT observations of the highly ionized nebula around Brey2
We present the first high resolution HeII 4686 images of the high excitation
nebula around the WR star Brey 2 in the LMC. This nebula presents a striking
morphology: a small arc-like feature some 3.6pc in radius is particularly
prominent in the HeII 4686 line. We further discover a previously unknown faint
HeII emission that extends over an area of 22*17 pc^2. An even fainter HeII
emission is apparently associated with the interstellar bubble blown by the
progenitor of Brey2. The total HeII flux corresponds to an ionizing flux of
4*10^{47} photons/s. Halpha, [OIII], and HeI 5876 images and long-slit spectra
are also examined in this letter, enabling us to investigate the detailed
physical properties at various locations of the nebula.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures (2 in jpg), accepted by A&A Letters, also
available from http://vela.astro.ulg.ac.be/Preprints/P80/index.htm
Search for magnetic fields in particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries
Some colliding-wind massive binaries, called particle-accelerating
colliding-wind binaries (PACWB), exhibit synchrotron radio emission, which is
assumed to be generated by a stellar magnetic field. However, no measurement of
magnetic fields in these stars has ever been performed. We aim at quantifying
the possible stellar magnetic fields present in PACWB to provide constraints
for models. We gathered 21 high-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of
9 PACWB available in the ESPaDOnS, Narval and HarpsPol archives. We analysed
these observations with the Least Squares Deconvolution method. We separated
the binary spectral components when possible. No magnetic signature is detected
in any of the 9 PACWB stars and all longitudinal field measurements are
compatible with 0 G. We derived the upper field strength of a possible field
that could have remained hidden in the noise of the data. While the data are
not very constraining for some stars, for several stars we could derive an
upper limit of the polar field strength of the order of 200 G. We can therefore
exclude the presence of strong or moderate stellar magnetic fields in PACWB,
typical of the ones present in magnetic massive stars. Weak magnetic fields
could however be present in these objects. These observational results provide
the first quantitative constraints for future models of PACWB.Comment: Accepted in A&
Chandra monitoring of the very massive binary WR20a and the young massive cluster Westerlund2
Results: The two Wolf-Rayet stars WR20a (WN6ha+WN6ha) and WR20b (WN6ha) were
analyzed in detail. They are both very luminous and display very hard spectra,
but WR20b does not seem to vary. On the contrary, WR20a, a known eclipsing,
colliding-wind binary, brightens in the X-ray domain during the eclipses, i.e.
when the collision is seen face-on. This can be explained by the properties of
the wind-wind collision zone, whose high density leads to a large absorbing
column (2 10^24 cm^-2).All twelve O-type stars previously classified
spectroscopically, two eclipsing binaries previously identified and nine newly
identified O-type star candidates are detected in the high energy domain; ten
of them could be analyzed spectroscopically. Four are overluminous, but the
others present typical L_X/L_BOL ratios, suggesting that several O-type objects
are actually binaries. Variability at the ~2sigma level was detected for a
majority of the sources, of unknown origin for the putatively single objects.
Faint, soft, diffuse emission pervades the entire field-of-view but no clear
structure can be identified, even at the position of a blister proposed to be
at the origin of the TeV source HESS J1023-575. Finally, the X-ray properties
of PMS objects were also investigated, in particular the brightest flaring
ones. They provided an additional argument in favor of a large distance (~8kpc)
for the cluster.Comment: accepted by A&A, 10 pages, 7 figures (available in jpg
The atypical emission-line star Hen3-209
We analyse observations, spanning 15 years, dedicated to the extreme
emission-line object Hen3-209. Our photometric data indicate that the
luminosity of the star undergoes marked variations with a peak-to-peak
amplitude of 0.65mag. These variations are recurrent, with a period of
16.093+-0.005d. The spectrum of Hen3-209 is peculiar with many different lines
(HI, HeI, FeII,...) showing P Cygni profiles. The line profiles are apparently
changing in harmony with the photometry. The spectrum also contains [OIII]
lines that display a saddle profile topped by three peaks, with a maximum
separation of about 600km/s. Hen3-209 is most likely an evolved luminous object
suffering from mass ejection events and maybe belonging to a binary system.Comment: 6p, 5 fig, accepted for publication in MNRAS
(www.blackwell-synergy.com
Phase resolved X-ray spectroscopy of HDE228766: Probing the wind of an extreme Of+/WNLha star
HDE228766 is a very massive binary system hosting a secondary component,
which is probably in an intermediate evolutionary stage between an Of
supergiant and an WN star. The wind of this star collides with the wind of its
O8 II companion, leading to relatively strong X-ray emission. Measuring the
orbital variations of the line-of-sight absorption toward the X-ray emission
from the wind-wind interaction zone yields information on the wind densities of
both stars. X-ray spectra have been collected at three key orbital phases to
probe the winds of both stars. Optical photometry has been gathered to set
constraints on the orbital inclination of the system. The X-ray spectra reveal
prominent variations of the intervening column density toward the X-ray
emission zone, which are in line with the expectations for a wind-wind
collision. We use a toy model to set constraints on the stellar wind parameters
by attempting to reproduce the observed variations of the relative fluxes and
wind optical depths at 1 keV. The lack of strong optical eclipses sets an upper
limit of about 68 degrees on the orbital inclination. The analysis of the
variations of the X-ray spectra suggests an inclination in the range 54 - 61
degrees and indicates that the secondary wind momentum ratio exceeds that of
the primary by at least a factor 5. Our models further suggest that the bulk of
the X-ray emission arises from the innermost region of the wind interaction
zone, which is from a region whose outer radius, as measured from the secondary
star, lies between 0.5 and 1.5 times the orbital separation
Variability of Young Massive Stars in the Galactic Super Star Cluster Westerlund 1
This paper presents the first optical variability study of the Westerlund 1
super star cluster in search of massive eclipsing binary systems. A total of
129 new variable stars have been identified, including the discovery of 4
eclipsing binaries that are cluster members, 1 additional candidate, 8 field
binaries, 19 field delta Scuti stars, 3 field W UMa eclipsing binaries, 13
other periodic variables and 81 long period or non-periodic variables. These
include the known luminous blue variable, the B[e] star, 11 Wolf-Rayet stars,
several supergiants, and other reddened stars that are likely members of
Westerlund 1. The bright X-ray source corresponding to the Wolf-Rayet star
WR77o (B) is found to be a 3.51 day eclipsing binary. The discovery of a
reddened detached eclipsing binary system implies the first identification of
main-sequence stars in Westerlund 1.Comment: 28 pages, 9 figures, 3 tables; accepted for publication in The
Astronomical Journal. Full-resolution version and color image of the cluster
are available at http://www.dtm.ciw.edu/bonanos/Westerlund
A phase-resolved XMM-Newton Campaign on the Colliding Wind Binary HD 152248
We report the first results of an XMM-Newton monitoring campaign of the NGC
6231 open cluster in the Sco OB1 association. This first paper focuses on the
massive colliding wind binary HD 152248, which is the brightest X-ray source of
the cluster. The campaign, with a total duration of 180 ksec, was split into
six separate observations, following the orbital motion of HD 152248. The X-ray
flux from this system presents a clear, asymmetric modulation with the phase
and ranges from 0.73 to 1.18 10-12 erg s-1 cm-2 in the [0.5-10.0 keV] energy
band. The maximum of the emission is reached slightly after apastron. The EPIC
spectra are quite soft and peak around 0.8-0.9 keV. We characterize their shape
using several combinations of mekal models and power-law spectra and we detect
significant spectral variability in the [0.5-2.5 keV] energy band. We also
perform 2-D hydrodynamical simulations using different sets of parameters that
closely reproduce the physical and orbital configuration of the HD 152248
system at the time of the six XMM-Newton pointings. This allows a direct
confrontation of the model predictions with the constraints deduced from the
X-ray observations of the system. We show that the observed variation of the
flux can be explained by a variation of the X-ray emission from the colliding
wind zone, diluted by the softer X-ray contribution of the two O-type stars of
the system. Our simulations also reveal that the interaction region of HD
152248 should be highly unstable, giving rise to shells of dense gas that are
separated by low density regions. Finally, we perform a search for short-term
variability in the light curves of the system and we show that trends are
present within several of the 30 ksec exposures of our campaign. Further, most
of these trends are in good .Comment: Accepted by MNRAS; 22 pages; without figures; complete PS version
(including figures) on http://vela.astro.ulg.ac.be/Preprints/index.htm
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