Related papers: The massive binary system WR 20a: light curve anal…
WR 20a is the most massive close-in binary known in our Galaxy. It is composed of two $\approx$80 M$_\odot$ Wolf-Rayet stars with a short period of $\approx$3.7 days in the open cluster Westerlund 2. As such, WR 20a presents us with a…
The problem of explaining the X-ray emission properties of the massive, close binary WR 20a is discussed. Located near the cluster core of Westerlund 2, WR 20a is composed of two nearly identical Wolf- Rayet stars of 82 and 83 solar masses…
Our dedicated XMM-Newton monitoring, as well as archival Chandra and Swift datasets, were used to examine the behaviour of the WN5h+O3V binary WR21a at high energies. For most of the orbit, the X-ray emission exhibits few variations.…
We present a high-precision I-band light curve for the Wolf-Rayet binary WR 20a, obtained as a sub-project of the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment. Rauw et al. have recently presented spectroscopy for this system, strongly…
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,…
The colliding wind binary (CWB) systems \eta\ Carinae and WR140 provide unique laboratories for X-ray astrophysics. Their wind-wind collisions produce hard X-rays that have been monitored extensively by several X-ray telescopes, including…
The distance of the very young open cluster Westerlund 2, which contains the very massive binary system WR 20a and is likely associated with a TeV source, has been the subject of much debate. We attempt a joint analysis of spectroscopic and…
We present new BVR band photometric light curves of BO Aries obtained in 2020 and combined them with the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) light curves. We obtained times of minima based on Gaussian and Cauchy distributions and…
WR 25 is a colliding-wind binary star system comprised of a very massive O2.5If*/WN6 primary and an O-star secondary in a 208-day period eccentric orbit. These hot stars have strong, highly-supersonic winds which interact to form a bright…
We present theoretical X-ray line profiles from a range of model colliding wind systems. In particular, we investigate the effects of varying the stellar mass-loss rates, the wind speeds, and the viewing orientation. We find that a wide…
We suggest a simple synthesis model of an eclipsing binary system which includes one component with strong stellar wind. Numerical simulations show that the shape of the light curve (and in particularly the widths of the minima) strongly…
Radio observations are an effective tool to discover particle acceleration regions in colliding-wind binaries, through detection of synchrotron radiation; these regions are natural laboratories for the study of relativistic particles.…
WR~21a was known as a massive spectroscopic binary composed of an O2.5 If*/WN6ha primary and an O3 V((f*))z secondary. Although a minimum value, the mass estimated for the primary placed it as one of the most massive stars found in our…
We present results of new Chandra High-Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) observations (2019 November - December) of the massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) binary WR 48a. Analysis of these high-quality data showed that the spectral lines in this…
WR 140 is a canonical massive "colliding wind" binary system in which periodically-varying X-ray emission is produced by the collision between the wind of the WC7 and O4-5 star components in the space between the two stars. We have obtained…
Milli-arcsecond resolution Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the archetype WR+O star colliding-wind binary (CWB) system WR140 are presented for 23 epochs between orbital phases 0.74 and 0.97. At 8.4 GHz, the emission in the…
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…
Milliarcsecond resolution Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) observations of the archetype WR+O star colliding-wind binary (CWB) system WR140 have been obtained at 23 epochs between orbital phases 0.74 to 0.97. The emission in the…
When a core-collapse supernova explodes in a binary star system, the ejecta might encounter an overdense shell, where the stellar winds of the two stars previously collided. In this work, we investigate effects of such interactions on…
The colliding wind binary (CWB) systems \eta\ Carinae and WR140 provide unique laboratories for X-ray astrophysics. Their wind-wind collisions produce hard X-rays that have been monitored extensively by several X-ray telescopes, including…