Related papers: Wind clumping and the wind-wind collision zone in …
Archival X-ray spectra of the four prominent single, non-magnetic O stars Zeta Pup, Zeta Ori, Ksi Per and Zeta Oph, obtained in high resolution with Chandra HETGS/MEG have been studied. The resolved X-ray emission line profiles provide…
Because of its complex clumpy wind, prominent cyclotron resonant scattering features, intrinsic variability and convenient physical parameters (close distance, high inclination, small orbital separation) which facilitate the observation and…
We present a uniform analysis of six examples of embedded wind shock (EWS) O star X-ray sources observed at high resolution with the Chandra grating spectrometers. By modeling both the hot plasma emission and the continuum absorption of the…
We present new X-ray and radio observations of the WR star EZ CMa (HD 50896) obtained with XMM-Newton and the VLA. This WN4 star shows optical/UV variability at a period of 3.76 d whose cause is unknown. VLA flux measurements at five…
We investigate the structure of the wind in the neutron star X-ray binary system Vela X-1 by analyzing its flaring behavior. Vela X-1 shows constant flaring, with some flares reaching fluxes of more than 3.0 Crab between 20-60 keV for…
In the subclass of high-mass X-ray binaries known as "microquasars", relativistic hadrons in the jets launched by the compact object can interact with cold protons from the star's radiatively driven wind, producing pions that then quickly…
The Supergiant X-ray binary Vela X-1 represents one of the best astrophysical sources to investigate the wind environment of a O/B star irradiated by an accreting neutron star. Previous studies and hydrodynamic simulations of the system…
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…
\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…
Wolf-Rayet stars embody the final stable phase of the most massive stars immediately before their evolution is terminated in a supernova explosion. They are responsible for some of the most extreme and energetic phenomena in stellar…
The fast, dense winds which characterize Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars obscure their underlying cores, and complicate the verification of evolving core and nucleosynthesis models. Core evolution can be probed by measuring abundances of wind-borne…
A recent XMM-Newton observation (Zhekov 2014) has revealed diffuse X-ray emission inside the nebula NGC 2359 around the Wolf-Rayet star WR 7. Taking advantage of an improved point-source rejection and background subtraction, and a detailed…
We use hydrodynamical models of the wind-collision region (WCR) in the archetype colliding-wind system WR140 to determine the spatial and spectral distribution of the radio, X-ray and gamma-ray emission from shock accelerated electrons. Our…
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…
We present an analysis of XMM-Newton X-ray data of WR30a (WO+O), a close massive binary that harbours an oxygen-rich Wolf-Rayet star. Its spectrum is characterized by the presence of two well-separated broad peaks, or `bumps', one peaking…
X-ray spectroscopy is a sensitive probe of stellar winds. X-rays originate from optically thin shock-heated plasma deep inside the wind and propagate outwards throughout absorbing cool material. Recent analyses of the line ratios from…
Massive WR+O star systems produce high-temperature, shock-heated plasma where the wind of the WR star and that of its binary companion collide - the wind-collision region (WCR). The WCR is a source of thermal (e.g. hard X-rays) and…
INTEGRAL tripled the number of super-giant high-mass X-ray binaries (sgHMXB) known in the Galaxy by revealing absorbed and fast transient (SFXT) systems. Quantitative constraints on the wind clumping of massive stars can be obtained from…
Colliding winds in massive binaries generate X-ray-bright shocks, synchrotron radio emission, and sometimes even dusty "pinwheel" spirals. We report the first X-ray detections of the dusty WC+O binary system WR 112 from Chandra and Swift,…
In addition to gamma-ray binaries which contain a compact object, high-energy and very high-energy gamma rays have also been detected from colliding-wind binaries. The collision of the winds produces two strong shock fronts, one for each…