Related papers: An episodically variable stellar wind in the plane…
We present the results of a program that monitored the near-IR spectroscopic variability of a sample of 19 embedded protostars. Spectra were taken on time intervals from 2 days to 3 years, over a wavelength range from 0.85 {\mu}m to 2.45…
We investigated the X-ray emission of HD 149404, a 9.81-day period O-star binary in a post-Roche lobe overflow evolutionary stage. X-ray emission of O-star binaries consists of the intrinsic emission of the individual O stars and a putative…
Context: Nonthermal radio emission in massive stars is expected to arise in wind-wind collisions occurring inside a binary system. One such case, the O-type star Cyg OB2 #9, was proven to be a binary only four years ago, but the orbital…
The Wolf-Rayet (WR) nebula NGC3199 has been suggested to be a bow shock around its central star WR18, presumably a runaway star, because optical images of the nebula show a dominating arc of emission south-west of the star. We present the…
We constrain wind parameters of a sample of 18 O-type stars in the LMC, through analysis with stellar atmosphere and wind models including the effects of optically thick clumping. This allows us to determine the most accurate spectroscopic…
The O9.7 V star HD 54879 is currently the only massive magnetic star whose magnetic field geometry and rotation period are not constrained. Over the last three years, we gathered additional observations of this star, obtained using various…
\mu\ Columbae is a prototypical weak-wind O-star for which we have obtained a high-resolution X-ray spectrum with the Chandra LETG/ACIS-S instrument and a low resolution spectrum with Suzaku. This allows us, for the first time, to…
We present our analysis of the narrow emission lines produced in the plasma regions within the bright active galactic nucleus of NGC 4151, from an ORBYTS research-with-schools public engagement project. Our goal was to test whether the…
Despite a resurgence of effort over the last decade in the area of massive stars there is still ambiguity over their evolutionary path, contamination of their surface abundances and the behaviour of their stellar winds. Here 10 SMC B-type…
In 2016 we carried out a Swift monitoring program to track the X-ray hardness variability of eight type-I AGN over a year. The purpose of this monitoring was to find intense obscuration events in AGN, and thereby study them by triggering…
The nebular spectra of the energetic Type Ic supernova SN1998bw (hypernova) are studied. The transition to the nebular phase occurred at an epoch of about 100 days after outburst, which is assumed to coincide with GRB980425. Early in the…
We report the first direct detection of molecular hydrogen associated with the Galactic nuclear wind. The Far-Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer spectrum of LS 4825, a B1 Ib-II star at $l,b$ = 1.67$^{\circ}$,$-$6.63$^{\circ}$ lying $d$ =…
This paper discusses the location of a sample of planetary nebulae on the HR diagram. We determine the internal velocity fields of 14 planetary nebulae from high-resolution echelle spectroscopy, with the help of photoionization models. The…
For the first time, based on long-term spectral monitoring with high spectral resolution, the optical spectrum of the weak central star of the IR source RAFGL 5081 has been studied. The spectral type of this star is close to G5-8 II, and…
We report optical long-slit spectra and direct imaging (ground-based and with HST) of the pre-planetary nebula (pPN) M2-56 obtained at different epochs. The optical nebula is composed by shock-excited material distributed in two pairs of…
We present near-infrared and optical observations of moderately fast FeII-class Nova Scuti 2009 (V496 Sct) covering various phases; pre-maximum, early decline and nebular, during the first 10 months after its discovery followed by limited…
Spectroscopic and photometric variability is widespread among O-type supergiants. It is linked to various phenomena affecting the star and its circumstellar environment, thereby providing direct information concerning them. To investigate…
Most types of massive stars display X-ray emission that is affected by the properties of their stellar winds. Single non-magnetic OB stars have an X-ray luminosity that scales with their bolometric luminosity and their emission is thought…
The planetary nebula (PN) called the Stingray (PN G331.3$-$12.1) suddenly turned on in the 1980s, and its central star (V839 Ara) started a fast evolution with large amplitudes in magnitude, surface temperature, and surface gravity, perhaps…
Airborne and space-based low-resolution spectroscopy in the 1980s discovered tantalizing quantitative relationships between the gas phase C/O abundance ratio in planetary nebulae (PNe) and the fractions of total far-infrared luminosity…