Related papers: An electrically powered binary star?
The hierarchical multiple system XY Leo, despite nearly 90 yr of observations, remains enigmatic. It offers a unique testbed for close binary evolution, involving processes such as mass transfer, angular momentum loss, and the von…
Magnetars are young, highly magnetized neutron stars that are associated with magnetar short bursts (MSBs), magnetar giant flares (MGFs), and at least some fast radio bursts (FRBs). In this work, we consider a magnetar and a main sequence…
Binaries with hot massive components are strong X-ray sources. Besides the intrinsic X-ray emission of individual binary members originating in their winds, X-ray emission stems from the accretion on the compact companion or from wind…
I present a brief summary of three different types of binary star - astrometric, spectroscopic and eclipsing - and tabulate the properties of these systems that can be determined directly from observations. Eclipsing binary stars are the…
We have analysed the X-ray emission from a sample of close WR+O binaries using data from the public Chandra and XMM-Newton archives. Global spectral fits show that two-temperature plasma is needed to match the X-ray emission from these…
Massive stars (those larger than 8 solar masses at formation) have radiative envelopes that cannot sustain a dynamo, the mechanism that produces magnetic fields in lower-mass stars. Despite this, approximately 7\% of massive stars have…
We present an X-ray binary population synthesis model, and use it to simulate the evolution of X-ray binaries formed in a burst of star formation of duration 20 Myr and star-formation rate 10 M_sun/yr. Our goal is to explain the hard (2-10…
We present the results of numerical simulations of stationary, spherically outflowing, electron-positron pair winds, with total luminosities in the range 10^{34}- 10^{42} ergs/s. In the concrete example described here, the wind injection…
The high luminosity of massive, early-type stars drives strong stellar winds through line scattering of the stars continuum radiation. Their momenta contribute substantially to the dynamics and energetics of the ambient interstellar medium…
The merger of neutron stars drives a relativistic jet which can be observed as a short gamma-ray burst. A strong large-scale magnetic field is necessary to launch the relativistic jet. However, the magnetohydrodynamical mechanism to build…
Hydrogen-deficient binary stars comprise one star which has been stripped of its hydrogen through mass transfer to a binary companion. Observations show that the companion is able to accrete several solar masses without spinning up to…
Very precise satellite photometry has revealed a large number of variable stars whose variability is caused either by surface spots or by binarity. Detailed studies of such variables provide insights into the physics of these objects. We…
We give a simple, but accurate method that can be used to account for illumination in compact binary systems which have a low-mass companion, even if spherically symmetric illumination of the secondary star (not necessarily on the main…
In this Letter we examine the idea that a subset of short-period black-hole low-mass X-ray binaries could be powered by the mass transfer from pre-main sequence donors. As the star contracts towards the main sequence, the strong magnetic…
We present multiwavelength observations of this S-type symbiotic LMXB which consists of a 2-min X-ray pulsar accreting from an M6 III giant. This is the only symbiotic system definitely known to contain a neutron star. The steady…
We report the detection of orbital modulation, a model solution, and X-ray properties of a newly discovered contact binary, 2MASS J11201034$-$2201340. We serendipitously found this X-ray point source outside the error ellipse when searching…
We report the results of XMM-Newton observations of HD49798/RXJ0648.0-4418, the only known X-ray binary consisting of a hot sub-dwarf and a white dwarf. The white dwarf rotates very rapidly (P=13.2 s) and has a dynamically measured mass of…
A stellar common envelope occurs in a binary system when the atmosphere of an evolving star expands to encompass an orbiting companion object. Such systems are predicted to evolve rapidly, ejecting the stellar envelope and leaving the…
A new type of high-energy binary system has been revealed by the INTEGRAL satellite. These sources are being unveiled by means of multi-wavelength optical, near- and mid-infrared observations. Among these sources, two distinct classes are…
The nature of the X-ray source RX J1914+24 has been the subject of much debate. It shows a prominent period of 569 sec in X-rays and the optical/infra-red: in most models this has been interpreted as the binary orbital period. We present…