TY  - JOUR
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Huenemoerder, D. P.
A1  - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Sander, Andreas Alexander Christoph
A1  - Ignace, R.
A1  - Todt, Helge Tobias
A1  - Hainich, Rainer
T1  - On the Binary Nature of Massive Blue Hypergiants: High-resolution X-Ray Spectroscopy Suggests That Cyg OB2 12 is a Colliding Wind Binary
JF  - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics
N2  - The blue hypergiant Cyg OB2 12 (B3Ia(+)) is a representative member of the class of very massive stars in a poorly understood evolutionary stage. We obtained its high-resolution X-ray spectrum using the Chandra observatory. PoWR model atmospheres were calculated to provide realistic wind opacities and to establish the wind density structure. We find that collisional de-excitation is the dominant mechanism depopulating the metastable upper levels of the forbidden lines of the He-like ions Si XIV and Mg XII. Comparison between the model and observations reveals that X-ray emission is produced in a dense plasma, which could reside only at the photosphere or in a colliding wind zone between binary components. The observed X-ray spectra are well-fitted by thermal plasma models, with average temperatures in excess of 10 MK. The wind speed in Cyg OB2 12 is not high enough to power such high temperatures, but the collision of two winds in a binary system can be sufficient. We used archival data to investigate the X-ray properties of other blue hypergiants. In general, stars of this class are not detected as X-ray sources. We suggest that our new Chandra observations of Cyg OB2 12 can be best explained if Cyg OB2 12 is a colliding wind binary possessing a late O-type companion. This makes Cyg OB2 12 only the second binary system among the 16 known Galactic hypergiants. This low binary fraction indicates that the blue hypergiants are likely products of massive binary evolution during which they either accreted a significant amount of mass or already merged with their companions.
KW  - stars: individual (Cyg OB2 12)
KW  - stars: massive
KW  - stars: mass-loss
KW  - stars: winds, outflows
KW  - supergiants
KW  - X-rays: stars
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aa7e79
SN  - 0004-637X
SN  - 1538-4357
VL  - 845
PB  - IOP Publ. Ltd.
CY  - Bristol
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Bozzo, Enrico
A1  - Oskinova, Lida
A1  - Feldmeier, Achim
A1  - Falanga, M.
T1  - Clumpy wind accretion in supergiant neutron star high mass X-ray binaries
JF  - BMC neuroscience
N2  - The accretion of the stellar wind material by a compact object represents the main mechanism powering the X-ray emission in classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients. In this work we present the first attempt to simulate the accretion process of a fast and dense massive star wind onto a neutron star, taking into account the effects of the centrifugal and magnetic inhibition of accretion ("gating") due to the spin and magnetic field of the compact object. We made use of a radiative hydrodynamical code to model the nonstationary radiatively driven wind of an O-B supergiant star and then place a neutron star characterized by a fixed magnetic field and spin period at a certain distance from the massive companion. Our calculations follow, as a function of time (on a total timescale of several hours), the transitions of the system through all different accretion regimes that are triggered by the intrinsic variations in the density and velocity of the nonstationary wind. The X-ray luminosity released by the system is computed at each time step by taking into account the relevant physical processes occurring in the different accretion regimes. Synthetic lightcurves are derived and qualitatively compared with those observed from classical supergiant high mass X-ray binaries and supergiant fast X-ray transients. Although a number of simplifications are assumed in these calculations, we show that taking into account the effects of the centrifugal and magnetic inhibition of accretion significantly reduces the average X-ray luminosity expected for any neutron star wind-fed binary. The present model calculations suggest that long spin periods and stronger magnetic fields are favored in order to reproduce the peculiar behavior of supergiant fast X-ray transients in the X-ray domain.
KW  - stars: neutron
KW  - X-rays: binaries
KW  - supergiants
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201628341
SN  - 1432-0746
VL  - 589
SP  - 369
EP  - 389
PB  - EDP Sciences
CY  - Les Ulis
ER  -