TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hainich, Rainer
A1  - Oskinova, Lidia M.
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Marchant Campos, Pablo
A1  - Eldridge, J. J.
A1  - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Langer, Norbert
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
T1  - Observational properties of massive black hole binary progenitors
JF  - Astronomy and astrophysics : an international weekly journal
N2  - Context:
The first directly detected gravitational waves (GW 150914) were emitted by two coalescing black holes (BHs) with masses of ≈ 36 M⊙ and ≈ 29 M⊙. Several scenarios have been proposed to put this detection into an astrophysical context. The evolution of an isolated massive binary system is among commonly considered models.
Aims:
Various groups have performed detailed binary-evolution calculations that lead to BH merger events. However, the question remains open as to whether binary systems with the predicted properties really exist. The aim of this paper is to help observers to close this gap by providing spectral characteristics of massive binary BH progenitors during a phase where at least one of the companions is still non-degenerate.
Methods:
Stellar evolution models predict fundamental stellar parameters. Using these as input for our stellar atmosphere code (Potsdam Wolf-Rayet), we compute a set of models for selected evolutionary stages of massive merging BH progenitors at different metallicities.
Results:
The synthetic spectra obtained from our atmosphere calculations reveal that progenitors of massive BH merger events start their lives as O2-3V stars that evolve to early-type blue supergiants before they undergo core-collapse during the Wolf-Rayet phase. When the primary has collapsed, the remaining system will appear as a wind-fed high-mass X-ray binary. Based on our atmosphere models, we provide feedback parameters, broad band magnitudes, and spectral templates that should help to identify such binaries in the future.
Conclusions:
While the predicted parameter space for massive BH binary progenitors is partly realized in nature, none of the known massive binaries match our synthetic spectra of massive BH binary progenitors exactly. Comparisons of empirically determined mass-loss rates with those assumed by evolution calculations reveal significant differences. The consideration of the empirical mass-loss rates in evolution calculations will possibly entail a shift of the maximum in the predicted binary-BH merger rate to higher metallicities, that is, more candidates should be expected in our cosmic neighborhood than previously assumed.
KW  - gravitational waves
KW  - binaries: close
KW  - stars: early-type
KW  - stars: atmospheres
KW  - stars: winds
KW  - outflows
KW  - stars: mass-loss
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201731449
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 609
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
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, Lidia M.
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  -