TY  - JOUR
A1  - Massa, Derck
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Prinja, Raman
A1  - Ignace, Richard
T1  - Coordinated UV and X-Ray Spectroscopic Observations of the O-type Giant xi Per
BT  - the Connection between X-Rays and Large-scale Wind Structure
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present new, contemporaneous Hubble Space Telescope STIS and XMM-Newton observations of the O7. III(n) ((f)) star xi Per. We supplement the new data with archival IUE spectra, to analyze the variability of the wind lines and X-ray flux of xi Per. The variable wind of this star is known to have a 2.086-day periodicity. We use a simple, heuristic spot model that fits the low-velocity (near-surface) IUE wind line variability very well, to demonstrate that the low-velocity absorption in the new STIS spectra of N IV lambda 1718 and Si IV lambda 1402 vary with the same 2.086-day period. It is remarkable that the period and amplitude of the STIS data agree with those of the IUE spectra obtained 22 yr earlier. We also show that the time variability of the new XMM-Newton fluxes is also consistent with the 2.086-day period. Thus, our new, multiwavelength coordinated observations demonstrate that the mechanism that causes the UV wind line variability is also responsible for a significant fraction of the X-rays in single O stars. The sequence of events for the multiwavelength light-curve minima is Si IV lambda 1402, N IV lambda 1718, and X-ray flux, each separated by a phase of about 0.06 relative to the 2.086-day period. Analysis of the X-ray fluxes shows that they become softer as they weaken. This is contrary to expectations if the variability is caused by periodic excess absorption. Furthermore, the high-resolution X-ray spectra suggest that the individual emission lines at maximum are more strongly blueshifted. If we interpret the low-velocity wind line light curves in terms of our model, it implies that there are two bright regions, i.e., regions with less absorption, separated by 180 degrees, on the surface of the star. We note that the presence and persistence of two spots separated by 180 degrees suggest that a weak dipole magnetic field is responsible for the variability of the UV wind line absorption and X-ray flux in xi Per.
KW  - stars: activity
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: winds, outflows
KW  - ultraviolet: stars
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2019
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ab0283
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 873
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Toala, Jesús Alberto
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Chu, Y. -H.
A1  - Guerrero, Martin A.
A1  - Hainich, Rainer
A1  - Torrejon, Jose Miguel
T1  - On the Apparent Absence of Wolf-Rayet plus Neutron Star Systems
BT  - the Curious Case of WR124
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters
N2  - Among the different types of massive stars in advanced evolutionary stages is the enigmatic WN8h type. There are only a few Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars with this spectral type in our Galaxy. It has long been suggested that WN8h-type stars are the products of binary evolution that may harbor neutron stars (NS). One of the most intriguing WN8h stars is the runaway WR 124 surrounded by its magnificent nebula M1-67. We test the presence of an accreting NS companion in WR 124 using similar to 100 ks long observations by the Chandra X-ray observatory. The hard X-ray emission from WR 124 with a luminosity of L-X similar to 10(31) erg s(-1) is marginally detected. We use the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium stellar atmosphere code PoWR to estimate the WR wind opacity to the X-rays. The wind of a WN8-type star is effectively opaque for X-rays, hence the low X-ray luminosity of WR 124 does not rule out the presence of an embedded compact object. We suggest that, in general, high-opacity WR winds could prevent X-ray detections of embedded NS, and be an explanation for the apparent lack of WR+NS systems.
KW  - circumstellar matter
KW  - ISM: jets and outflows
KW  - stars: massive
KW  - stars: evolution
KW  - stars: neutron
KW  - stars: Wolf-Rayet
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aaf39d
SN  - 2041-8205
SN  - 2041-8213
VL  - 869
IS  - 1
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hubrig, Swetlana
A1  - Schöller, Markus
A1  - Kholtygin, Alexander F.
A1  - Tsumura, Hiroki
A1  - Hoshino, Akio
A1  - Kitamoto, Shunji
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Ilyin, Ilya
T1  - New multiwavelength observations of the Of?p star CPD-28 degrees 2561
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - A rather strong mean longitudinal magnetic field of the order of a few hundred gauss was detected a few years ago in the Of?p star CPD -28 degrees 2561 using FORS2 (FOcal Reducer low dispersion Spectrograph 2) low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations. In this work, we present additional low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations obtained during several weeks in 2013 December using FORS 2 mounted at the 8-m Antu telescope of the Very Large Telescope (VLT). These observations cover a little less than half of the stellar rotation period of 73.41 d mentioned in the literature. The behaviour of the mean longitudinal magnetic field is consistent with the assumption of a single-wave variation during the stellar rotation cycle, indicating a dominant dipolar contribution to the magnetic field topology. The estimated polar strength of the surface dipole B-d is larger than 1.15 kG. Further, we compared the behaviour of the line profiles of various elements at different rotation phases associated with different magnetic field strengths. The strongest contribution of the emission component is observed at the phases when the magnetic field shows a negative or positive extremum. The comparison of the spectral behaviour of CPD -28 degrees 2561 with that of another Of?p star, HD 148937 of similar spectral type, reveals remarkable differences in the degree of variability between both stars. Finally, we present new X-ray observations obtained with the Suzaku X-ray Observatory. We report that the star is X-ray bright with log L-X/L-bol approximate to -5.7. The low-resolution X-ray spectra reveal the presence of a plasma heated up to 24 MK. We associate the 24 MK plasma in CPD -28 degrees 2561 with the presence of a kG strong magnetic field capable to confine stellar wind.
KW  - stars: atmospheres
KW  - stars: individual: CPD-28 degrees 2561
KW  - stars: magnetic field
KW  - stars: mass-loss
KW  - stars: variables: general
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stu2516
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 447
IS  - 2
SP  - 1885
EP  - 1894
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Huenemoerder, David P.
A1  - Hubrig, Swetlana
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Balona, Luis
T1  - On X-ray pulsations in beta Cephei-type variables
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Context. beta Cep-type variables are early B-type stars that are characterized by oscillations observable in their optical light curves. At least one beta Cep-variable also shows periodic variability in X-rays.
 Aims. Here we study the X-ray light curves in a sample of beta Cep-variables to investigate how common X-ray pulsations are for this type of stars.
 Methods. We searched the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray archives and selected stars that were observed by these telescopes for at least three optical pulsational periods. We retrieved and analyzed the X-ray data for kappa Sco, beta Cru, and alpha Vir. The X-ray light curves of these objects were studied to test for their variability and periodicity.
 Results. While there is a weak indication for X-ray variability in beta Cru, we find no statistically significant evidence of X-ray pulsations in any of our sample stars. This might be due either to the insufficient data quality or to the physical lack of modulations. New, more sensitive observations should settle this question.
KW  - stars: massive
KW  - stars: variables: general
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201525908
SN  - 0004-6361
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 577
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pablo, Herbert
A1  - Richardson, Noel D.
A1  - Moffat, Anthony F. J.
A1  - Corcoran, Michael
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Benvenuto, Omar
A1  - Fuller, Jim
A1  - Naze, Yael
A1  - Hoffman, Jennifer L.
A1  - Miroshnichenko, Anatoly
A1  - Apellaniz, Jesus Maiz
A1  - Evans, Nancy
A1  - Eversberg, Thomas
A1  - Gayley, Ken
A1  - Gull, Ted
A1  - Hamaguchi, Kenji
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Henrichs, Huib
A1  - Hole, Tabetha
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Iping, Rosina
A1  - Lauer, Jennifer
A1  - Leutenegger, Maurice
A1  - Lomax, Jamie
A1  - Nichols, Joy
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Owocki, Stan
A1  - Pollock, Andy
A1  - Russell, Christopher M. P.
A1  - Waldron, Wayne
A1  - Buil, Christian
A1  - Garrel, Thierry
A1  - Graham, Keith
A1  - Heathcote, Bernard
A1  - Lemoult, Thierry
A1  - Li, Dong
A1  - Mauclaire, Benjamin
A1  - Potter, Mike
A1  - Ribeiro, Jose
A1  - Matthews, Jaymie
A1  - Cameron, Chris
A1  - Guenther, David
A1  - Kuschnig, Rainer
A1  - Rowe, Jason
A1  - Rucinski, Slavek
A1  - Sasselov, Dimitar
A1  - Weiss, Werner
T1  - A coordinated X-Ray and optical campaign of the nearest massive eclipsing binary, delta ORIONIS Aa. III. Analysis of optical photometric (most) and spectroscopic (ground based) variations
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We report on both high-precision photometry from the Microvariability and Oscillations of Stars (MOST) space telescope and ground-based spectroscopy of the triple system delta Ori A, consisting of a binary O9.5II+early-B (Aa1 and Aa2) with P = 5.7 days, and a more distant tertiary (O9 IV P > 400 years). This data was collected in concert with X-ray spectroscopy from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Thanks to continuous coverage for three weeks, the MOST light curve reveals clear eclipses between Aa1 and Aa2 for the first time in non-phased data. From the spectroscopy, we have a well-constrained radial velocity (RV) curve of Aa1. While we are unable to recover RV variations of the secondary star, we are able to constrain several fundamental parameters of this system and determine an approximate mass of the primary using apsidal motion. We also detected second order modulations at 12 separate frequencies with spacings indicative of tidally influenced oscillations. These spacings have never been seen in a massive binary, making this system one of only a handful of such binaries that show evidence for tidally induced pulsations.
KW  - binaries: close
KW  - binaries: eclipsing
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: individual (delta Ori A)
KW  - stars: mass-loss
KW  - stars: variables: general
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/809/2/134
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 809
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Corcoran, Michael F.
A1  - Nichols, Joy S.
A1  - Pablo, Herbert
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Pollock, Andy M. T.
A1  - Waldron, Wayne L.
A1  - Moffat, Anthony F. J.
A1  - Richardson, Noel D.
A1  - Russell, Christopher M. P.
A1  - Hamaguchi, Kenji
A1  - Huenemoerder, David P.
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Naze, Yael
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Evans, Nancy Remage
A1  - Lomax, Jamie R.
A1  - Hoffman, Jennifer L.
A1  - Gayley, Kenneth
A1  - Owocki, Stanley P.
A1  - Leutenegger, Maurice
A1  - Gull, Theodore R.
A1  - Hole, Karen Tabetha
A1  - Lauer, Jennifer
A1  - Iping, Rosina C.
T1  - A coordinated X-Ray and optical campaign of the nearest massive eclipsing binary, delta ORIONIS Aa. I. Overview of thr X-Ray spectrum
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - We present an overview of four deep phase-constrained Chandra HETGS X-ray observations of delta Ori A. Delta Ori A is actually a triple system that includes the nearest massive eclipsing spectroscopic binary, delta Ori Aa, the only such object that can be observed with little phase-smearing with the Chandra gratings. Since the fainter star, delta Ori Aa2, has a much lower X-ray luminosity than the brighter primary (delta Ori Aa1), delta Ori Aa provides a unique system with which to test the spatial distribution of the X-ray emitting gas around delta Ori Aa1 via occultation by the photosphere of, and wind cavity around, the X-ray dark secondary. Here we discuss the X-ray spectrum and X-ray line profiles for the combined observation, having an exposure time of nearly 500 ks and covering nearly the entire binary orbit. The companion papers discuss the X-ray variability seen in the Chandra spectra, present new space-based photometry and ground-based radial velocities obtained simultaneously with the X-ray data to better constrain the system parameters, and model the effects of X-rays on the optical and UV spectra. We find that the X-ray emission is dominated by embedded wind shock emission from star Aa1, with little contribution from the tertiary star Ab or the shocked gas produced by the collision of the wind of Aa1 against the surface of Aa2. We find a similar temperature distribution to previous X-ray spectrum analyses. We also show that the line half-widths are about 0.3-0.5 times the terminal velocity of the wind of star Aa1. We find a strong anti-correlation between line widths and the line excitation energy, which suggests that longer-wavelength, lower-temperature lines form farther out in the wind. Our analysis also indicates that the ratio of the intensities of the strong and weak lines of Fe XVII and Ne X are inconsistent with model predictions, which may be an effect of resonance scattering.
KW  - binaries: close
KW  - binaries: eclipsing
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: individual (Delta Ori)
KW  - stars: mass-loss
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/809/2/132
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 809
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Naze, Yael
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Huenemoerder, David P.
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Hubrig, Swetlana
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
T1  - Discovery of X-ray pulsations from a massive star
JF  - Nature Communications
N2  - X-ray emission from stars much more massive than the Sun was discovered only 35 years ago. Such stars drive fast stellar winds where shocks can develop, and it is commonly assumed that the X-rays emerge from the shock-heated plasma. Many massive stars additionally pulsate. However, hitherto it was neither theoretically predicted nor observed that these pulsations would affect their X-ray emission. All X-ray pulsars known so far are associated with degenerate objects, either neutron stars or white dwarfs. Here we report the discovery of pulsating X-rays from a non-degenerate object, the massive B-type star xi(1) CMa. This star is a variable of beta Cep-type and has a strong magnetic field. Our observations with the X-ray Multi-Mirror (XMM-Newton) telescope reveal X-ray pulsations with the same period as the fundamental stellar oscillations. This discovery challenges our understanding of stellar winds from massive stars, their X-ray emission and their magnetism.
Y1  - 2014
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms5024
SN  - 2041-1723
VL  - 5
PB  - Nature Publ. Group
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Brown, John C.
A1  - Cassinelli, Joseph P.
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
T1  - Early magnetic B-type stars X-ray emission and wind properties
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - We present a comprehensive study of X-ray emission by, and wind properties of, massive magnetic early B-type stars. Dedicated XMM-Newton observations were obtained for three early-type B-type stars, xi(1) CMa, V2052 Oph and zeta Cas, with recently discovered magnetic fields. We report the first detection of X-ray emission from V2052 Oph and zeta Cas. The latter is one the softest X-ray sources among the early-type stars, while the former is one of the X-ray faintest. The observations show that the X-ray spectra of our programme stars are quite soft with the bulk of X-ray emitting material having a temperature of about 1 MK. We compile the complete sample of early B-type stars with detected magnetic fields to date and existing X-ray measurements, in order to study whether the X-ray emission can be used as a general proxy for stellar magnetism. We find that the X-ray properties of early massive B-type magnetic stars are diverse, and that hard and strong X-ray emission does not necessarily correlate with the presence of a magnetic field, corroborating similar conclusions reached earlier for the classical chemically peculiar magnetic Bp-Ap stars.
 We analyse the ultraviolet (UV) spectra of five non-supergiant B stars with magnetic fields (tau Sco, beta Cep, xi(1) CMa, V2052 Oph and zeta Cas) by means of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) iron-blanketed model atmospheres. The latter are calculated with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) code, which treats the photosphere as well as the wind, and also accounts for X-rays. With the exception of t Sco, this is the first analysis of these stars by means of stellar wind models. Our models accurately fit the stellar photospheric spectra in the optical and the UV. The parameters of X-ray emission, temperature and flux are included in the model in accordance with observations. We confirm the earlier findings that the filling factors of X-ray emitting material are very high.
 Our analysis reveals that the magnetic early-type B stars studied here have weak winds with velocities not significantly exceeding upsilon(esc). The mass-loss rates inferred from the analysis of UV lines are significantly lower than predicted by hydrodynamically consistent models. We find that, although the X-rays strongly affect the ionization structure of the wind, this effect is not sufficient in reducing the total radiative acceleration. When the X-rays are accounted for at the intensity and temperatures observed, there is still sufficient radiative acceleration to drive a stronger mass-loss than we empirically infer from the UV spectral lines.
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - stars: magnetic field
KW  - stars: massive
KW  - stars: mass loss
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2011
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.19143.x
SN  - 0035-8711
VL  - 416
IS  - 2
SP  - 1456
EP  - 1474
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Hoboken
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hünemörder, David P.
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Waldron, Wayne L.
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Hamaguchi, Kenji
A1  - Kitamoto, Shunji
T1  - On the weak-wind problem in massive stars X-ray spectra reveal a massive hot wind in mu columbaea
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics ; Part 2, Letters
N2  - 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 instrument and a low-resolution spectrum with Suzaku. This allows us, for the first time, to investigate the role of X-rays on the wind structure in a bona fide weak-wind system and to determine whether there actually is a massive hot wind. The X-ray emission measure indicates that the outflow is an order of magnitude greater than that derived from UV lines and is commensurate with the nominal wind-luminosity relationship for O stars. Therefore, the "weak-wind problem"-identified from cool wind UV/optical spectra-is largely resolved by accounting for the hot wind seen in X-rays. From X-ray line profiles, Doppler shifts, and relative strengths, we find that this weak-wind star is typical of other late O dwarfs. The X-ray spectra do not suggest a magnetically confined plasma-the spectrum is soft and lines are broadened; Suzaku spectra confirm the lack of emission above 2 keV. Nor do the relative line shifts and widths suggest any wind decoupling by ions. The He-like triplets indicate that the bulk of the X-ray emission is formed rather close to the star, within five stellar radii. Our results challenge the idea that some OB stars are "weak-wind" stars that deviate from the standard wind-luminosity relationship. The wind is not weak, but it is hot and its bulk is only detectable in X-rays.
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: individual (mu Col)
KW  - stars: mass-loss
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2012
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/756/2/L34
SN  - 2041-8205
VL  - 756
IS  - 2
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ignace, Richard
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Massa, D.
T1  - A report on the X-ray properties of the tau Sco-like stars
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - An increasing number of OB stars have been shown to possess magnetic fields. Although the sample remains small, it is surprising that the magnetic and X-ray properties of these stars appear to be far less correlated than expected. This contradicts model predictions, which generally indicate that the X-rays from magnetic stars are harder and more luminous than their non-magnetic counterparts. Instead, the X-ray properties of magnetic OB stars are quite diverse.
 tau Sco is one example where the expectations are better met. This bright main-sequence, early B star has been studied extensively in a variety of wavebands. It has a surface magnetic field of around 500 G, and Zeeman Doppler tomography has revealed an unusual field configuration. Furthermore, tau Sco displays an unusually hard X-ray spectrum, much harder than similar, non-magnetic OB stars. In addition, the profiles of its UV P Cygni wind lines have long been known to possess a peculiar morphology.
 Recently, two stars, HD 66665 and HD 63425, whose spectral types and UV wind line profiles are similar to those of tau Sco, have also been determined to be magnetic. In the hope of establishing a magnetic field - X-ray connection for at least a subset of the magnetic stars, we obtained XMM-Newton European Photon Imaging Camera spectra of these two objects. Our results for HD 66665 are somewhat inconclusive. No especially strong hard component is detected; however, the number of source counts is insufficient to rule out hard emission. Longer exposure is needed to assess the nature of the X-rays from this star. On the other hand, we do find that HD 63425 has a substantial hard X-ray component, thereby bolstering its close similarity to tau Sco.
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: individual: HD 63425
KW  - stars: individual: HD 66665
KW  - stars: magnetic field
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2013
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sts358
SN  - 0035-8711
VL  - 429
IS  - 1
SP  - 516
EP  - 522
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  -