1 research outputs found
Discovery of a strong magnetic field in the rapidly rotating B2Vn star HR 7355
We report the detection of a strong, organized magnetic field in the
helium-variable early B-type star HR 7355 using spectropolarimetric data
obtained with ESPaDOnS on the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope within the
context of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Large Program. HR 7355 is
both the most rapidly rotating known main-sequence magnetic star and the most
rapidly rotating helium-strong star, with = 300 15 km s
and a rotational period of 0.5214404 0.0000006 days. We have modeled our
eight longitudinal magnetic field measurements assuming an oblique dipole
magnetic field. Constraining the inclination of the rotation axis to be between
and , we find the magnetic obliquity angle to be
between and , and the polar strength of the magnetic
field at the stellar surface to be between 13-17 kG. The photometric light
curve constructed from HIPPARCOS archival data and new CTIO measurements shows
two minima separated by 0.5 in rotational phase and occurring 0.25 cycles
before/after the magnetic extrema. This photometric behavior coupled with
previously-reported variable emission of the H line (which we confirm)
strongly supports the proposal that HR 7355 harbors a structured magnetosphere
similar to that in the prototypical helium-strong star, Ori E.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRAS Letter