TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Cassinelli, Joseph P. A1 - Brown, John C. A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias T1 - X-ray emission from massive stars with magnetic fields JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes N2 - We investigate the connections between the magnetic fields and the X-ray emission from massive stars. Our study shows that the X-ray properties of known strongly magnetic stars are diverse: while some comply to the predictions of the magnetically confined wind model, others do not. We conclude that strong, hard, and variable X-ray emission may be a sufficient attribute of magnetic massive stars, but it is not a necessary one. We address the general properties of X-ray emission from "normal" massive stars, especially the long standing mystery about the correlations between the parameters of X-ray emission and fundamental stellar properties. The recent development in stellar structure modeling shows that small-scale surface magnetic fields may be common. We suggest a "hybrid" scenario which could explain the X-ray emission from massive stars by a combination of magnetic mechanisms on the surface and shocks in the stellar wind. The magnetic mechanisms and the wind shocks are triggered by convective motions in sub-photospheric layers. This scenario opens the door for a natural explanation of the well established correlation between bolometric and X-ray luminosities. KW - stars: magnetic fields KW - stars: mass-loss KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - stars: Wolf-Rayet KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201111602 SN - 0004-6337 VL - 332 IS - 9-10 SP - 988 EP - 993 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Selsing, Jonatan A1 - Malesani, D. A1 - Goldoni, P. A1 - Fynbo, Johan A1 - Krühler, T. A1 - Antonelli, L. A. A1 - Arabsalmani, M. A1 - Bolmer, J. A1 - Cano, Z. A1 - Christensen, L. A1 - Covino, S. A1 - De Cia, A. A1 - de Ugarte Postigo, A. A1 - Flores, H. A1 - Fliis, M. A1 - Gomboc, A. A1 - Greiner, J. A1 - Groot, P. A1 - Hammer, F. A1 - Hartoog, O. E. A1 - Heintz, K. E. A1 - Hjorth, J. A1 - Jakobsson, P. A1 - Japelj, J. A1 - Kann, D. A. A1 - Kaper, L. A1 - Ledoux, C. A1 - Leloudas, G. A1 - Levan, A. J. A1 - Maiorano, E. A1 - Melandri, A. A1 - Milvang-Jensen, B. A1 - Palazzi, E. A1 - Palmerio, J. T. A1 - Perley, D. A. A1 - Pian, E. A1 - Piranomonte, S. A1 - Pugliese, G. A1 - Sanchez-Ramirez, R. A1 - Savaglio, S. A1 - Schady, P. A1 - Schulze, S. A1 - Sollerman, J. A1 - Sparre, Martin A1 - Tagliaferri, G. A1 - Tanvir, N. R. A1 - Thone, C. C. A1 - Vergani, S. D. A1 - Vreeswijk, P. A1 - Watson, D. A1 - Wiersema, K. A1 - Wijers, R. A1 - Xu, D. A1 - Zafar, T. T1 - The X-shooter GRB afterglow legacy sample (XS-GRB) JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - In this work we present spectra of all gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows that have been promptly observed with the X-shooter spectrograph until 31/03/2017. In total, we have obtained spectroscopic observations of 103 individual GRBs observed within 48 hours of the GRB trigger. Redshifts have been measured for 97 per cent of these, covering a redshift range from 0.059 to 7.84. Based on a set of observational selection criteria that minimise biases with regards to intrinsic properties of the GRBs, the follow-up effort has been focused on producing a homogeneously selected sample of 93 afterglow spectra for GRBs discovered by the Swift satellite. We here provide a public release of all the reduced spectra, including continuum estimates and telluric absorption corrections. For completeness, we also provide reductions for the 18 late-time observations of the underlying host galaxies. We provide an assessment of the degree of completeness with respect to the parent GRB population, in terms of the X-ray properties of the bursts in the sample and find that the sample presented here is representative of the full Swift sample. We have constrained the fraction of dark bursts to be <28 per cent and confirm previous results that higher optical darkness is correlated with increased X-ray absorption. For the 42 bursts for which it is possible, we have provided a measurement of the neutral hydrogen column density, increasing the total number of published HI column density measurements by similar to 33 per cent. This dataset provides a unique resource to study the ISM across cosmic time, from the local progenitor surroundings to the intervening Universe. KW - gamma-ray burst: general KW - galaxies: high-redshift KW - ISM: general KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - catalogs KW - galaxies: star formation Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201832835 SN - 1432-0746 SN - 0004-6361 VL - 623 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bouma, Sietske Jeltje Deirdre A1 - Richter, Philipp A1 - Wendt, Martin T1 - The relation between Ly alpha absorbers and local galaxy filaments JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. The intergalactic medium (IGM) is believed to contain the majority of baryons in the universe and to trace the same dark matter structure as galaxies, forming filaments and sheets. Ly alpha absorbers, which sample the neutral component of the IGM, have been extensively studied at low and high redshift, but the exact relation between Ly alpha absorption, galaxies, and the large-scale structure is observationally not well constrained.Aims. In this study, we aim at characterising the relation between Ly alpha absorbers and nearby over-dense cosmological structures (galaxy filaments) at recession velocities Delta v <= 6700 km s(-1) by using archival observational data from various instruments.Methods. We analyse 587 intervening Ly alpha absorbers in the spectra of 302 extragalactic background sources obtained with the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) installed on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). We combine the absorption line information with galaxy data of five local galaxy filaments from the V8k catalogue.Results. Along the 91 sightlines that pass close to a filament, we identify 215 (227) Ly alpha absorption systems (components). Among these, 74 Ly alpha systems are aligned in position and velocity with the galaxy filaments, indicating that these absorbers and the galaxies trace the same large-scale structure. The filament-aligned Ly alpha absorbers have a similar to 90% higher rate of incidence (d?/dz=189 for log N(HI) >= 13.2) and a slightly shallower column density distribution function slope (-beta=-1.47) relative to the general Ly alpha population at z=0, reflecting the filaments' matter over-density. The strongest Ly alpha absorbers are preferentially found near galaxies or close to the axis of a filament, although there is substantial scatter in this relation. Our sample of absorbers clusters more strongly around filament axes than a randomly distributed sample would do (as confirmed by a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test), but the clustering signal is less pronounced than for the galaxies in the filaments. KW - galaxies: halos KW - intergalactic medium KW - quasars: absorption lines KW - large-scale structure of Universe KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - ultraviolet: general Y1 - 2021 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202039786 SN - 0004-6361 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 647 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Zhang, Heshou A1 - Yan, Huirong A1 - Richter, Philipp T1 - The influence of atomic alignment on absorption and emission spectroscopy JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - Spectroscopic observations play essential roles in astrophysics. They are crucial for determining physical parameters in our Universe, providing information about the chemistry of various astronomical environments. The proper execution of the spectroscopic analysis requires accounting for all the physical effects that are compatible to the signal-to-noise ratio. We find in this paper the influence on spectroscopy from the atomic/ground state alignment owing to anisotropic radiation and modulated by interstellar magnetic field, has significant impact on the study of interstellar gas. In different observational scenarios, we comprehensively demonstrate how atomic alignment influences the spectral analysis and provide the expressions for correcting the effect. The variations are even more pronounced for multiplets and line ratios. We show the variation of the deduced physical parameters caused by the atomic alignment effect, including alpha-to-iron ratio ([X/Fe]) and ionization fraction. Synthetic observations are performed to illustrate the visibility of such effect with current facilities. A study of Photodissociation regions in rho Ophiuchi cloud is presented to demonstrate how to account for atomic alignment in practice. Our work has shown that due to its potential impact, atomic alignment has to be included in an accurate spectroscopic analysis of the interstellar gas with current observational capability. KW - magnetic fields KW - submillimetre: ISM KW - ultraviolet: ISM KW - ISM: abundances KW - ISM: lines and bands KW - techniques: spectroscopic Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/sty1594 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 479 IS - 3 SP - 3923 EP - 3935 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ramachandran, Varsha A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Gallagher, J. S. A1 - Hainich, Rainer A1 - Shenar, Tomer A1 - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Fulmer, Leah M. T1 - Testing massive star evolution, star formation history, and feedback at low metallicity BT - Spectroscopic analysis of OB stars in the SMC Wing JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Stars that start their lives with spectral types O and early B are the progenitors of core-collapse supernovae, long gamma-ray bursts, neutron stars, and black holes. These massive stars are the primary sources of stellar feedback in star-forming galaxies. At low metallicities, the properties of massive stars and their evolution are not yet fully explored. Here we report a spectroscopic study of 320 massive stars of spectral types O (23 stars) and B (297 stars) in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The spectra, which we obtained with the ESO Very Large Telescope, were analyzed using state-of-the-art stellar atmosphere models, and the stellar parameters were determined. We find that the stellar winds of our sample stars are generally much weaker than theoretically expected. The stellar rotation rates show broad, tentatively bimodal distributions. The upper Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) is well populated by the stars of our sample from a specific field in the SMC Wing. A few very luminous O stars are found close to the main sequence, while all other, slightly evolved stars obey a strict luminosity limit. Considering additional massive stars in evolved stages, with published parameters and located all over the SMC, essentially confirms this picture. The comparison with single-star evolutionary tracks suggests a dichotomy in the fate of massive stars in the SMC. Only stars with an initial mass below similar to 30 M-circle dot seem to evolve from the main sequence to the cool side of the HRD to become a red supergiant and to explode as type II-P supernova. In contrast, stars with initially more than similar to 30 M-circle dot appear to stay always hot and might evolve quasi chemically homogeneously, finally collapsing to relatively massive black holes. However, we find no indication that chemical mixing is correlated with rapid rotation. We measured the key parameters of stellar feedback and established the links between the rates of star formation and supernovae. Our study demonstrates that in metal-poor environments stellar feedback is dominated by core-collapse supernovae in combination with winds and ionizing radiation supplied by a few of the most massive stars. We found indications of the stochastic mode of massive star formation, where the resulting stellar population is fully capable of producing large-scale structures such as the supergiant shell SMC-SGS 1 in the Wing. The low level of feedback in metal-poor stellar populations allows star formation episodes to persist over long timescales. KW - stars: evolution KW - stars: massive KW - stars: mass-loss KW - Magellanic Clouds KW - Hertzsprung-Russell and C-M diagrams KW - techniques: spectroscopic Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201935365 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 625 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ramachandran, Varsha A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Hainich, Rainer A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Shenar, Tomer A1 - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Gallagher, John S. T1 - Stellar population of the superbubble N206 in the LMC II. Parameters of the OB and WR stars, and the total massive star feedback JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Context. Clusters or associations of early-type stars are often associated with a "superbubble" of hot gas. The formation of such superbubbles is caused by the feedback from massive stars. The complex N206 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) exhibits a superbubble and a rich massive star population. Aims. Our goal is to perform quantitative spectral analyses of all massive stars associated with the N206 superbubble in order to determine their stellar and wind parameters. We compare the superbubble energy budget to the stellar energy input and discuss the star formation history of the region. Results. We present the stellar and wind parameters of the OB stars and the two Wolf-Rayet (WR) binaries in the N206 complex. Twelve percent of the sample show Oe/Be type emission lines, although most of them appear to rotate far below critical. We found eight runaway stars based on their radial velocity. The wind-momentum luminosity relation of our OB sample is consistent with the expectations. The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (HRD) of the OB stars reveals a large age spread (1-30 Myr), suggesting different episodes of star formation in the complex. The youngest stars are concentrated in the inner part of the complex, while the older OB stars are scattered over outer regions. We derived the present day mass function for the entire N206 complex as well as for the cluster NGC2018. The total ionizing photon flux produced by all massive stars in the N206 complex is Q(0) approximate to 5 x 10(50) s(-1), and the mechanical luminosity of their stellar winds amounts to L-mec = 1.7 x 10(38) erg s(-1). Three very massive Of stars are found to dominate the feedback among 164 OB stars in the sample. The two WR winds alone release about as much mechanical luminosity as the whole OB star sample. The cumulative mechanical feedback from all massive stellar winds is comparable to the combined mechanical energy of the supernova explosions that likely occurred in the complex. Accounting also for the WR wind and supernovae, the mechanical input over the last five Myr is approximate to 2.3 x 10(52) erg. Conclusions. The N206 complex in the LMC has undergone star formation episodes since more than 30 Myr ago. From the spectral analyses of its massive star population, we derive a current star formation rate of 2.2 x 10(-3) M-circle dot yr(-1). From the combined input of mechanical energy from all stellar winds, only a minor fraction is emitted in the form of X-rays. The corresponding input accumulated over a long time also exceeds the current energy content of the complex by more than a factor of five. The morphology of the complex suggests a leakage of hot gas from the superbubble. KW - stars: massive KW - Magellanic Clouds KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - Hertzsprung-Russell and C-M diagrams KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - ISM: bubbles Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201832816 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 615 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Balthasar, H. A1 - Gömöry, P. A1 - González Manrique, Sergio Javier A1 - Kuckein, Christoph A1 - Kavka, J. A1 - Kucera, A. A1 - Schwartz, P. A1 - Vaskova, R. A1 - Berkefeld, T. A1 - Collados Vera, M. A1 - Denker, Carsten A1 - Feller, A. A1 - Hofmann, A. A1 - Lagg, A. A1 - Nicklas, H. A1 - Suarez, D. A1 - Pastor Yabar, A. A1 - Rezaei, R. A1 - Schlichenmaier, R. A1 - Schmidt, D. A1 - Schmidt, W. A1 - Sigwarth, M. A1 - Sobotka, M. A1 - Solanki, S. K. A1 - Soltau, D. A1 - Staude, J. A1 - Strassmeier, Klaus G. A1 - Volkmer, R. A1 - von der Lühe, O. A1 - Waldmann, T. T1 - Spectropolarimetric observations of an arch filament system with the GREGOR solar telescope JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes N2 - Arch filament systems occur in active sunspot groups, where a fibril structure connects areas of opposite magnetic polarity, in contrast to active region filaments that follow the polarity inversion line. We used the GREGOR Infrared Spectrograph (GRIS) to obtain the full Stokes vector in the spectral lines SiI lambda 1082.7 nm, He I lambda 1083.0 nm, and Ca I lambda 1083.9 nm. We focus on the near-infrared calcium line to investigate the photospheric magnetic field and velocities, and use the line core intensities and velocities of the helium line to study the chromospheric plasma. The individual fibrils of the arch filament system connect the sunspot with patches of magnetic polarity opposite to that of the spot. These patches do not necessarily coincide with pores, where the magnetic field is strongest. Instead, areas are preferred not far from the polarity inversion line. These areas exhibit photospheric downflows of moderate velocity, but significantly higher downflows of up to 30 km s(-1) in the chromospheric helium line. Our findings can be explained with new emerging flux where the matter flows downward along the field lines of rising flux tubes, in agreement with earlier results. (C) 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH& Co. KGaA, Weinheim KW - Sun: filaments KW - Sun: photosphere KW - techniques: polarimetric KW - techniques: spectroscopic Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201612432 SN - 0004-6337 SN - 1521-3994 VL - 337 SP - 1050 EP - 1056 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Denker, Carsten A1 - Heibel, C. A1 - Rendtel, J. A1 - Arlt, K. A1 - Balthasar, H. A1 - Diercke, Andrea A1 - Gonzalez Manrique, Sergio Javier A1 - Hofmann, A. A1 - Kuckein, Christoph A1 - Önel, H. A1 - Valliappan, Senthamizh Pavai A1 - Staude, J. A1 - Verma, Meetu T1 - Solar physics at the Einstein Tower JF - Astronomische Nachrichten = Astronomical notes KW - history and philosophy of astronomy KW - Sun: photosphere KW - Sun: magnetic fields KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - telescopes Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/asna.201612442 SN - 0004-6337 SN - 1521-3994 VL - 337 SP - 1105 EP - 1113 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gimenez-Garcia, Ana A1 - Shenar, Tomer A1 - Torrejon, J. M. A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Martinez-Nunez, S. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Rodes-Roca, J. J. A1 - González-Galan, A. A1 - Alonso-Santiago, J. A1 - González-Fernández, C. A1 - Bernabeu, Guillermo A1 - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph T1 - Measuring the stellar wind parameters in IGR J17544-2619 and Vela X-1 constrains the accretion physics in supergiant fast X-ray transient and classical supergiant X-ray binaries JF - Siberian Mathematical Journal N2 - Aims. To close this gap, we perform a comparative analysis of the optical companion in two important systems: IGR J175442619 (SFXT) and Vela X-1 (SGXB). We analyze the spectra of each star in detail and derive their stellar and wind properties. As a next step, we compare the wind parameters, giving us an excellent chance of recognizing key differences between donor winds in SFXTs and SGXBs. Methods. We use archival infrared, optical and ultraviolet observations, and analyze them with the non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE) Potsdam Wolf-Rayet model atmosphere code. We derive the physical properties of the stars and their stellar winds, accounting for the influence of X-rays on the stellar winds. Results. We find that the stellar parameters derived from the analysis generally agree well with the spectral types of the two donors: O9I (IGR J17544-2619) and B0.5Iae (Vela X-1). The distance to the sources have been revised and also agree well with the estimations already available in the literature. In IGR J17544-2619 we are able to narrow the uncertainty to d = 3.0 +/- 0.2 kpc. From the stellar radius of the donor and its X-ray behavior, the eccentricity of IGR J17544-2619 is constrained to e < 0.25. The derived chemical abundances point to certain mixing during the lifetime of the donors. An important difference between the stellar winds of the two stars is their terminal velocities (v(infinity) = 1500 km s(-1) in IGR J17544-2619 and v(infinity) = 700 km s(-1) in Vela X-1), which have important consequences on the X-ray luminosity of these sources. Conclusions. The donors of IGR J17544-2619 and Vela X-1 have similar spectral types as well as similar parameters that physically characterize them and their spectra. In addition, the orbital parameters of the systems are similar too, with a nearly circular orbit and short orbital period. However, they show moderate differences in their stellar wind velocity and the spin period of their neutron star which has a strong impact on the X-ray luminosity of the sources. This specific combination of wind speed and pulsar spin favors an accretion regime with a persistently high luminosity in Vela X-1, while it favors an inhibiting accretion mechanism in IGR J17544-2619. Our study demonstrates that the relative wind velocity is critical in class determination for the HMXBs hosting a supergiant donor, given that it may shift the accretion mechanism from direct accretion to propeller regimes when combined with other parameters. KW - accretion, accretion disks KW - methods: observational KW - techniques: spectroscopic KW - stars: atmospheres KW - X-rays: binaries KW - stars: winds, outflows Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201527551 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 591 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Verma, Meetu A1 - Denker, Carsten A1 - Balthasar, H. A1 - Kuckein, Christoph A1 - Rezaei, R. A1 - Sobotka, Michal A1 - Deng, N. A1 - Wang, Haimin A1 - Tritschler, A. A1 - Collados, M. A1 - Diercke, Andrea A1 - González Manrique, Sergio Javier T1 - High-resolution imaging and near-infrared spectroscopy of penumbral decay JF - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal N2 - Aims. Combining high-resolution spectropolarimetric and imaging data is key to understanding the decay process of sunspots as it allows us to scrutinize the velocity and magnetic fields of sunspots and their surroundings. Methods. Active region NOAA 12597 was observed on 2016 September 24 with the 1.5-meter GREGOR solar telescope using high-spatial-resolution imaging as well as imaging spectroscopy and near-infrared (NIR) spectropolarimetry. Horizontal proper motions were estimated with local correlation tracking, whereas line-of-sight (LOS) velocities were computed with spectral line fitting methods. The magnetic field properties were inferred with the "Stokes Inversions based on Response functions" (SIR) code for the Si I and Ca I NIR lines. Results. At the time of the GREGOR observations, the leading sunspot had two light bridges indicating the onset of its decay. One of the light bridges disappeared, and an elongated, dark umbral core at its edge appeared in a decaying penumbral sector facing the newly emerging flux. The flow and magnetic field properties of this penumbral sector exhibited weak Evershed flow, moat flow, and horizontal magnetic field. The penumbral gap adjacent to the elongated umbral core and the penumbra in that penumbral sector displayed LOS velocities similar to granulation. The separating polarities of a new flux system interacted with the leading and central part of the already established active region. As a consequence, the leading spot rotated 55 degrees clockwise over 12 h. Conclusions. In the high-resolution observations of a decaying sunspot, the penumbral filaments facing the flux emergence site contained a darkened area resembling an umbral core filled with umbral dots. This umbral core had velocity and magnetic field properties similar to the sunspot umbra. This implies that the horizontal magnetic fields in the decaying penumbra became vertical as observed in flare-induced rapid penumbral decay, but on a very different time-scale. KW - Sun: photosphere KW - sunspots KW - Sun: magnetic fields KW - Sun: infrared KW - techniques: imaging spectroscopy KW - techniques: spectroscopic Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731801 SN - 1432-0746 VL - 614 PB - EDP Sciences CY - Les Ulis ER -