76 research outputs found
A Chandra Grating Observation of the Dusty Wolf-Rayet Star WR48a
We present results of a Chandra High Energy Transmission Grating (HETG)
observation of the carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR48a. These are the first
high-resolution spectra of this object in X-rays. Blue-shifted centroids of the
spectral lines of about -360 km/s and line widths of 1000 - 1500 km/s (FWHM)
were deduced from the analysis of the line profiles of strong emission lines.
The forbidden line of Si XIII is strong and not suppressed, indicating that the
rarefied 10-30 MK plasma forms far from strong sources of far-UV emission, most
likely in a wind collision zone. Global spectral modeling showed that the X-ray
spectrum of WR48a suffered higher absorption in the October 2012 Chandra
observation compared to a previous January 2008 XMM-Newton observation. The
emission measure of the hot plasma in WR48a decreased by a factor ~ 3 over the
same period of time. The most likely physical picture that emerges from the
analysis of the available X-ray data is that of colliding stellar winds in a
wide binary system with an elliptical orbit. We propose that the unseen
secondary star in the system is another WR star or perhaps a luminous blue
variable.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables; Accepted for publication in The
Astrophysical Journa
A multi-wavelength view on the dusty Wolf-Rayet star WR 48a
We present results from the first attempts to derive various physical
characteristics of the dusty Wolf-Rayet star WR 48a based on a multi-wavelength
view of its observational properties. This is done on the basis of new optical
and near-infrared spectral observations and on data from various archives in
the optical, radio and X-rays. The optical spectrum of WR 48a is acceptably
well represented by a sum of two spectra: of a WR star of the WC8 type and of a
WR star of the WN8h type. The strength of the interstellar absorption features
in the optical spectra of WR 48a and the near-by stars D2-3 and D2-7 (both
members of the open cluster Danks 2) indicates that WR 48a is located at a
distance of ~4 kpc from us. WR 48a is very likely a thermal radio source and
for such a case and smooth (no clumps) wind its radio emission suggests a
relatively high mass-loss rate of this dusty WR star (dM/dt = a few x 10^(-4)
solar masses per year). Long timescale (years) variability of WR 48a is
established in the optical, radio and X-rays. Colliding stellar winds likely
play a very important role in the physics of this object. However, some
LBV-like (luminous blue variable) activity could not be excluded as well.Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS; 16 pages, 16 figures, 6 table
Chandra HETGS Multi-Phase Spectroscopy of the Young Magnetic O Star theta^1 Orionis C
We report on four Chandra grating observations of the oblique magnetic
rotator theta^1 Ori C (O5.5 V) covering a wide range of viewing angles with
respect to the star's 1060 G dipole magnetic field. We employ line-width and
centroid analyses to study the dynamics of the X-ray emitting plasma in the
circumstellar environment, as well as line-ratio diagnostics to constrain the
spatial location, and global spectral modeling to constrain the temperature
distribution and abundances of the very hot plasma. We investigate these
diagnostics as a function of viewing angle and analyze them in conjunction with
new MHD simulations of the magnetically channeled wind shock mechanism on
theta^1 Ori C. This model fits all the data surprisingly well, predicting the
temperature, luminosity, and occultation of the X-ray emitting plasma with
rotation phase.Comment: 52 pages, 14 figures (1 color), 6 tables. To appear in the
Astrophysical Journal, 1 August 2005, v628, issue 2. New version corrects
e-mail address, figure and table formatting problem
The Active Corona of HD 35850 (F8 V)
We present Extreme Ultraviolet Explorer spectroscopy and photometry of the
nearby F8 V star HD 35850 (HR 1817). The EUVE spectra reveal 28 emission lines
from Fe IX and Fe XV to Fe XXIV. The Fe XXI 102, 129 A ratio yields an upper
limit for the coronal electron density, log n < 11.6 per cc. The EUVE SW
spectrum shows a small but clearly detectable continuum. The line-to-continuum
ratio indicates approximately solar Fe abundances, 0.8 < Z < 1.6. The resulting
emission-measure distribution is characterized by two temperature components at
log T of 6.8 and 7.4. The EUVE spectra have been compared with non-simultaneous
ASCA SIS spectra of HD 35850. The SIS spectrum shows the same temperature
distribution as the EUVE DEM analysis. However, the SIS spectral firs suggest
sub-solar abundances, 0.34 < Z < 0.81. Although some of the discrepancy may be
the result of incomplete X-ray line lists, we cannot explain the disagreement
between the EUVE line-to-continuum ratio and the ASCA-derived Fe abundance.
Given its youth (t ~ 100 Myr), its rapid rotation (v sin i ~ 50 km/s), and its
high X-ray activity (Lx ~ 1.5E+30 ergs/s), HD 35850 may represent an activity
extremum for single, main-sequence F-type stars. The variability and EM
distribution can be reconstructed using the continuous flaring model of Guedel
provided that the flare distribution has a power-law index of 1.8. Similar
results obtained for other young solar analogs suggest that continuous flaring
is a viable coronal heating mechanism on rapidly rotating, late-type,
main-sequence stars.Comment: 32 pages incl. 14 figures and 3 tables. To appear in the 1999 April
10 issue of The Astrophysical Journa
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