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 - 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 - 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 - Brown, John C. T1 - XMM-Newton Observations of the Nitrogen-Rich Wolf-Rayet star WR1 N2 - We present XMM-Newton results for the X-ray spectrum from the N-rich Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR 1. The EPIC instrument was used to obtain a medium-resolution spectrum. The following features characterize this spectrum: (a) significant emission "bumps" appear that are coincident with the wavelengths of typical strong lines, such as Mg XI, Si XIII and S XV; (b) little emission is detected above 4 keV, in contrast to recent reports of a hard component in the stars WR 6 and WR 110 which are of similar subtype; and (c) evidence for sulfur K-edge absorption at about 2.6 keV, which could only arise from absorption of X-rays by the ambient stellar wind. The lack of hard emission in our dataset is suggestive that WR 1 may truly be a single star, thus representing the first detailed X-ray spectrum that isolates the WR wind alone (in contrast to colliding wind zones). Although the properties of the S-edge are not well-constrained by our data, it does appear to be real, and its detection indicates that at least some of the hot gas in WR 1 must reside interior to the radius of optical depth unity for the total absorptive opacity at the energy of the edge. Y1 - 2003 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 - 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 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Feldmeier, Achim A1 - Ignace, Richard A1 - Chu, You-Hua T1 - Discovery of X-ray emission from the Wolf-Rayet star WR 142 of oxygen subtype N2 - We report the discovery of weak yet hard X-ray emission from the Wolf-Rayet (WR) star WR 142 with the XMM- Newton X-ray telescope. Being of spectral subtype WO2, WR 142 is a massive star in a very advanced evolutionary stage shortly before its explosion as a supernova or. gamma-ray burst. This is the first detection of X-ray emission from a WO- type star. We rule out any serendipitous X-ray sources within approximate to 1 '' of WR 142. WR 142 has an X- ray luminosity of L-X approximate to 7 x 10(30) erg s(-1), which constitutes only less than or similar to 10(-8) of its bolometric luminosity. The hard X-ray spectrum suggests a plasma temperature of about 100 MK. Commonly, X-ray emission from stellar winds is attributed to embedded shocks due to the intrinsic instability of the radiation driving. From qualitative considerations we conclude that this mechanism cannot account for the hardness of the observed radiation. There are no hints for a binary companion. Therefore the only remaining, albeit speculative explanation must refer to magnetic activity. Possibly related, WR 142 seems to rotate extremely fast, as indicated by the unusually round profiles of its optical emission lines. Our detection implies that the wind of WR 142 must be relatively transparent to X-rays, which can be due to strong wind ionization, wind clumping, or nonspherical geometry from rapid rotation. Y1 - 2009 UR - http://iopscience.iop.org/0004-637X/ U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637x/693/1/L44 SN - 0004-637X ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Ignace, Richard A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Pollock, A. M. T. A1 - Brown, John C. T1 - The conspicuous absence of X-ray emission from carbon-enriched Wolf-Rayet stars N2 - The carbon-rich WC5 star WR 114 was not detected during a 15.9 ksec XMM-Newton observation, implying an upper limit to the X-ray luminosity of Lx < 2.5 x 1030 ergs-1 and to the X-ray to bolometric luminosity ratio of Lx/Lbol < 4 x 10-9. This confirms indications from earlier less sensitive measurements that there has been no convincing X-ray detection of any single WC star. This lack of detections is reinforced by XMM-Newton and CHANDRA observations of WC stars. Thus the conclusion has to be drawn that the stars with radiatively-driven stellar winds of this particular class are insignificant X-ray sources. We attribute this to photoelectronic absorption by the stellar wind. The high opacity of the metal-rich and dense winds from WC stars puts the radius of optical depth unity at hundreds or thousands of stellar radii for much of the X-ray band. We believe that the essential absence of hot plasma so far out in the wind exacerbated by the large distances and correspondingly high ISM column densities makes the WC stars too faint to be detectable with current technology. The result also applies to many WC stars in binary systems, of which only about 20 % are identified X-ray sources, presumably due to colliding winds. Y1 - 2003 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 - 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 -