Related papers: Structure and Dynamics of Stellar Winds in High-ma…
I develop a detailed empirical model for the chromosphere and wind of 31 Cyg based on a previously published analysis of IUE spectra from the 1993 eclipse and on the thermodynamics of how the wind must be driven. I then use this model to…
In this review I briefly describe the nature of the three kinds of High-Mass X-ray Binaries (HMXBs), accreting through: (i) Be circumstellar disc, (ii) supergiant stellar wind, and (iii) Roche lobe filling supergiants. A previously unknown…
Massive colliding wind binary stars serve as laboratories for the study of strong-shock physics. In these systems fundamental flow parameters (velocities, densities, directions) are often well known, and photon fields important for Compton…
Observations of nearby molecular clouds detect "shells", which are likely caused by winds from young main sequence stars. However, the progenitors of these observed features are not well characterized and the mass-loss rates inferred from…
In an early-type, massive star binary system, X-ray bright shocks result from the powerful collision of stellar winds driven by radiation pressure on spectral line transitions. We examine the influence of the X-rays from the wind-wind…
LS 5039 has been observed with several X-ray instruments so far. The source presents X-ray variability at orbital timescales in flux and photon index. The system harbors an O-type main sequence star with moderate mass loss. At present, the…
Gamma-rays can be produced by the interaction of a relativistic jet and the matter of the stellar wind in the subclass of massive X-ray binaries known as "microquasars". The relativistic jet is ejected from the surroundings of the compact…
It is now well established that stellar winds of hot stars are fragmentary and that the X-ray emission from stellar winds has a strong contribution from shocks in winds. Chandra high spectral resolution observations of line profiles of O…
High-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) represent an important phase in the evolution of massive binary systems. HMXBs provide unique diagnostics to test massive-star evolution, to probe the physics of radiation-driven winds, to study the process…
The long-term X-ray lightcurves of classical supergiant X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients show relatively similar super-orbital modulations, which are still lacking a sound interpretation. We propose that these modulations…
Recent X-ray observations of young rotation-powered pulsars are providing an unprecedented detailed view of pulsar wind nebulae. For the first time, coherent emission features involving wisps, co-aligned toroidal structures, and axial jets…
We have performed an extensive hydrodynamical parameter study of starburst-driven galactic winds, motivated by the latest observation data on the best-studied starburst galaxy M82. We study how the wind dynamics, morphology and X-ray…
A subset (~ 10%) of massive stars present strong, globally ordered (mostly dipolar) magnetic fields. The trapping and channeling of their stellar winds in closed magnetic loops leads to magnetically confined wind shocks (MCWS), with…
We present a novel method for interpreting observations of high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs) based on a combination of spectroscopic data and numerical results from a radiation hydrodynamic model of stellar winds. We calculate synthetic…
Stellar winds of cool, main-sequence stars are very tenuous and difficult to observe. Despite carrying away only a small amount of the stellar mass, they are important for regulating the rotation of the star and, consequently, its activity…
Interacting binaries are of general interest as laboratories for investigating the physics of accretion, which gives rise to the bulk of high-energy radiation in the Galaxy. They allow us to probe stellar evolution processes that cannot be…
High resolution UV spectra of stellar H I Lyman-alpha lines from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) provide observational constraints on the winds of coronal main sequence stars, thanks to an astrospheric absorption signature created by the…
Accurate determination of mass-loss rates from massive stars is important to understanding stellar and galactic evolution and enrichment of the interstellar medium. Large-scale structure and variability in stellar winds have significant…
Massive stars drive powerful, supersonic winds via the radiative momentum associated with the thermal UV emission from their photospheres. Shock phenomena are ubiquitous in these winds, heating them to millions, and sometimes tens of…
We have investigated the relation between the orbital periods ($\pb$) and the spin periods ($\ps$) of wind-fed X-ray pulsars in high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs), based on population synthesis calculations of the spin evolution of neutron…