Related papers: Understanding the X-ray Flaring from Eta Car
Here we examine 12 Galactic clusters and OB associations containing Wolf-Rayet stars (W-Rs) and/or Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), in order to assess the progentor masses of these evolved massive stars. We find that in the Milky Way,…
We evaluate the place of Eta Carinae amongst the class of luminous blue variables (LBVs) and show that the LBV phenomenon is not restricted to extremely luminous objects like Eta Car, but extends luminosities as low as log(L/Lsun) = 5.4 -…
We use recent observations of the He I $\lambda10830 \AA$ absorption line and 3D hydrodynamical numerical simulations of the winds collision, to strengthen the case for an orientation of the semimajor axis of the massive binary system Eta…
The binary eta Carinae is the closest example of a very massive star, which may have formed through a merger during its Great Eruption in the mid-nineteenth century. We aimed to confirm and improve the kinematics using a spectroscopic data…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are helium-burning, evolved massive stars which have had most of their hydrogen-rich outer layers removed either through stellar winds and/or binary stripping. Here we report on LMC173-1, a WN3+O binary located in the…
$\eta$~Car is one of the most massive stars in the Galaxy. It underwent a massive eruption in the 19th century, which produced the impressive bipolar Homunculus nebula now surrounding it. The central star is an eccentric binary with a…
The short-period (1.64 d) near-contact eclipsing WN6+O9 binary system CQ Cep provides an ideal laboratory for testing the predictions of X-ray colliding wind shock theory at close separation where the winds may not have reached terminal…
We report precision ground-based broadband optical intensity and linear-polarisation light-curves for the sky's brightest WN8 star, WR40. WN8 stars are notorious for their high level of variability, stemming from stochastic clumps in their…
Despite the first detection of X-rays from massive stars occurring four decades ago, the physical dependence of the emission mechanism(s) on the underlying stellar and binary properties of the emitters remains uncertain. The young massive…
High-mass binaries hosting young pulsars can be powerful gamma-ray emitters. The stellar wind of the massive star in the system is expected to be clumpy. Since the high-energy emission comes from the pulsar-star wind interaction, the…
After having reported the detection of X-rays emitted by the peculiar system HD5980, we assess here the origin of this high-energy emission from additional X-ray observations obtained with XMM-Newton. This research provides the first…
Stars captured by black holes (BHs) can be torn apart by strong tidal forces, producing electromagnetic flares. To date, more than 100 tidal disruption events (TDEs) have been observed, each involving invariably normal gaseous stars whose…
The evolution of massive stars is heavily influenced by their binarity, and the massive eccentric binary system MACHO 80.7443.1718 (ExtEV) serves as a prime example. This study explores whether the light variability of ExtEV, observed near…
The {\eta} Carinae binary system hosts the most massive stars with the highest known mass-loss rate. Its dense wind encounters the faster wind expelled by the companion, dissipating mechanical energy in the shock, accelerating particles up…
Aims. Every 5.5 years eta Car's light curve and spectrum change remarkably across all observed wavelength bands. We compare the recent spectroscopic event in mid-2014 to the events in 2003 and 2009 and investigate long-term trends. Methods.…
Towards the end of their evolution hot massive stars develop strong stellar winds and appear as emission line stars, such as WR stars or LBVs. The quantitative description of the mass loss in these important pre-SN phases is hampered by…
Context: Colliding wind binaries (CWBs) are thought to give rise to a plethora of physical processes including acceleration and interaction of relativistic particles. Observation of synchrotron radiation in the radio band confirms there is…
The X-ray emission of the O+O binary HD166734 was monitored using Swift and XMM-Newton observatories, leading to the discovery of phase-locked variations. The presence of an f line in the He-like triplets further supports a wind-wind…
Observations with powerful X-ray telescopes, such as XMM-Newton and Chandra, significantly advance our understanding of massive stars. Nearly all early-type stars are X-ray sources. Studies of their X-ray emission provide important…
The highly eccentric binary system Eta Carinae shows numerous time-variable emission and absorption features. These observational signatures are the result of interactions between the complex three-dimensional (3D) wind-wind collision…