Related papers: High-Speed Optical Spectroscopy of a Cataclysmic V…
Context. Mass-loss, occurring through radiation driven supersonic winds, is a key issue throughout the evolution of massive stars. Two outstanding problems are currently challenging the theory of radiation-driven winds: wind clumping and…
We report the detection of rapid wavelength and intensity variations of narrow components in absorption line profiles of the hot galactic supergiant P Cygni. During most of the time, in one week of observations, there were two such…
We present the results of optical wavelength observations of the unusual SMC eclipsing binary system HD 5980 obtained in 1999 and 2004--2005. Radial velocity curves for the erupting LBV/WR object (star A) and its close WR-like companion…
We present the first ultraviolet spectrum of the peculiar, magnetic Of?p star HD 108 obtained in its spectroscopic low state. The new data, obtained with the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, reveal…
We present the first systematic spectropolarimetric study of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), and find that at least half those objects studied display evidence for intrinsic polarization -- a signature of significant inhomogeneity at the…
FU Orionis systems are young stars undergoing outbursts of disc accretion and where the optical spectrum contains lines associated with both the disc photosphere and a wind component. Previous observations of the prototype FU Orionis have…
High resolution optical spectra (R = 60 000) of the LBV star P Cyg beyond outburst were obtained on the 6-meter BTA telescope in the wavelength range 477-780 nm. We perform a detailed identification of different types lines (photospheric…
We report detailed follow-up observations of 8 cataclysmic variable stars (CVs) that are apparently AM Her stars, also called polars. For all, we either determine orbital periods for the first time, or improve on existing determinations.…
The young stellar object MWC297 is a B1.5Ve star exhibiting strong hydrogen emission lines. This object has been observed by the AMBER/VLTI instrument in 2-telescope mode in a sub-region of the K spectral band centered around the Br gamma…
We observed the bright phase of the 2003 outburst of the Galactic black hole candidate H 1743-322 in X-rays simultaneously with Chandra and RXTE on four occasions. The Chandra/HETGS spectra reveal narrow, variable (He-like) Fe XXV and…
An XMM-Newton observation of the nearby "pre-cataclysmic" short-period (P_orb = 3.62 hr) binary QS Vir (EC 13471-1258) revealed regular narrow X-ray eclipses when the white dwarf passed behind its M2-4 dwarf companion. The X-ray emission…
We present a unified picture of outflowing gas from the X-ray binary system Hercules X-1/HZ Herculis. We suggest that the outflowing gas (a wind) causes UV emission seen in mid-eclipse, narrow UV absorption lines, and broad UV P Cygni…
We report the discovery of the first variable extreme horizontal branch star in a globular cluster (omega Cen). The oscillation uncovered has a period of 114 s and an amplitude of 32 mmags. A comparison between horizontal branch models and…
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,…
The observed shock wave positions and expansion in Cas A can be interpreted in a model of supernova interaction with a freely expanding stellar wind with a mass loss rate of ~3e-5 Msun/yr for a wind velocity of 10 km/s. The wind was…
Recent spectropolarimetric surveys of bright, hot stars have found that ~10% of OB-type stars contain strong (mostly dipolar) surface magnetic fields (~kG). The prominent paradigm describing the interaction between the stellar winds and the…
Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually strong hard X-ray emission. The Suzaku observatory detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called "softness dips" in a ~100 ksec duration observation in 2011. All the…
We obtained time-series radial velocity spectroscopy of twenty cataclysmic variable stars, with the aim of determining orbital periods P_orb. All of the stars reported here prove to have P_orb > 3.5 h. For sixteen of the stars, these are…
Context. The mass loss from massive stars is not understood well. Eta Car is a unique object for studying the massive stellar wind during the LBV phase. It is also an eccentric binary with a period of 5.54 yr. The nature of both stars is…
We have studied a sample of 28 periodically variable B-type supergiants selected from the HIPPARCOS mission and 12 comparison stars covering the whole B-type spectral range. Our goal is to test if their variability is compatible with…