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 - 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 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Gayley, K. G. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Huenemoerder, D. P. A1 - Ignace, R. A1 - Pollock, A. M. T. T1 - HIGH-RESOLUTION X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY REVEALS THE SPECIAL NATURE OF WOLF-RAYET STAR WINDS JF - ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL LETTERS N2 - We present the first high-resolutionX-ray spectrum of a putatively singleWolf-Rayet (WR) star. 400 ks observations of WR 6 by the XMM-Newton telescope resulted in a superb quality high-resolution X-ray spectrum. Spectral analysis reveals that the X-rays originate far out in the stellar wind, more than 30 stellar radii from the photosphere, and thus outside the wind acceleration zone where the line-driving instability (LDI) could create shocks. The X-ray emitting plasma reaches temperatures up to 50 MK and is embedded within the unshocked, "cool" stellar wind as revealed by characteristic spectral signatures. We detect a fluorescent Fe line at approximate to 6.4 keV. The presence of fluorescence is consistent with a two-component medium, where the cool wind is permeated with the hot X-ray emitting plasma. The wind must have a very porous structure to allow the observed amount of X-rays to escape. We find that neither the LDI nor any alternative binary scenario can explain the data. We suggest a scenario where X-rays are produced when the fast wind rams into slow "sticky clumps" that resist acceleration. Our new data show that the X-rays in single WR star are generated by some special mechanism different from the one operating in the O-star winds. KW - stars: individual (WR 6) KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - stars: Wolf-Rayet KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/2041-8205/747/2/L25 SN - 2041-8205 VL - 747 IS - 2 PB - IOP PUBLISHING LTD CY - BRISTOL ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Feldmeier, Achim A1 - Kretschmar, Peter T1 - Clumped stellar winds in supergiant high-mass X-ray binaries: X-ray variability and photoionization JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - The clumping of massive star winds is an established paradigm, which is confirmed by multiple lines of evidence and is supported by stellar wind theory. The purpose of this paper is to bridge the gap between detailed models of inhomogeneous stellar winds in single stars and the phenomenological description of donor winds in supergiant high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXBs). We use the results from time-dependent hydrodynamical models of the instability in the line-driven wind of a massive supergiant star to derive the time-dependent accretion rate on to a compact object in the BondiHoyleLyttleton approximation. The strong density and velocity fluctuations in the wind result in strong variability of the synthetic X-ray light curves. The model predicts a large-scale X-ray variability, up to eight orders of magnitude, on relatively short time-scales. The apparent lack of evidence for such strong variability in the observed HMXBs indicates that the details of the accretion process act to reduce the variability resulting from the stellar wind velocity and density jumps. KW - accretion, accretion discs KW - instabilities KW - stars: neutron KW - X-rays: binaries KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20507.x SN - 0035-8711 VL - 421 IS - 4 SP - 2820 EP - 2831 PB - Wiley-Blackwell CY - Malden 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 - Naze, Yael A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Gosset, Eric T1 - A detailed x-ray investigation of zeta puppis - II. the variability on short and long timescales JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - Stellar winds are a crucial component of massive stars, but their exact properties still remain uncertain. To shed some light on this subject, we have analyzed an exceptional set of X-ray observations of zeta Puppis, one of the closest and brightest massive stars. The sensitive light curves that were derived reveal two major results. On the one hand, a slow modulation of the X-ray flux (with a relative amplitude of up to 15% over 16 hr in the 0.3-4.0 keV band) is detected. Its characteristic timescale cannot be determined with precision, but amounts from one to several days. It could be related to corotating interaction regions, known to exist in zeta Puppis from UV observations. Hour-long changes, linked to flares or to the pulsation activity, are not observed in the last decade covered by the XMM observations; the 17 hr tentative period, previously reported in a ROSAT analysis, is not confirmed either and is thus transient, at best. On the other hand, short-term changes are surprisingly small (<1% relative amplitude for the total energy band). In fact, they are compatible solely with the presence of Poisson noise in the data. This surprisingly low level of short-term variability, in view of the embedded wind-shock origin, requires a very high fragmentation of the stellar wind, for both absorbing and emitting features (>10(5) parcels, comparing with a two-dimensional wind model). This is the first time that constraints have been placed on the number of clumps in an O-type star wind and from X-ray observations. KW - stars: early-type KW - stars: individual (zeta Pup) KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/763/2/143 SN - 0004-637X VL - 763 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 - TY - JOUR A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Sun, W. A1 - Evans, C. J. A1 - Henault-Brunet, V. A1 - Chu, Y.-H. A1 - Gallagher, J. S. A1 - Guerrero, Martín A. A1 - Gruendl, R. A. A1 - Güdel, M. A1 - Silich, S. A1 - Chen, Y. A1 - Naze, Y. A1 - Hainich, Rainer A1 - Reyes-Iturbide, J. T1 - Discovery of x-ray emission from young suns in the small magellanic cloud JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - We report the discovery of extended X-ray emission within the young star cluster NGC 602a in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) based on observations obtained with the Chandra X-Ray Observatory. X-ray emission is detected from the cluster core area with the highest stellar density and from a dusty ridge surrounding the H II region. We use a census of massive stars in the cluster to demonstrate that a cluster wind or wind-blown bubble is unlikely to provide a significant contribution to the X-ray emission detected from the central area of the cluster. We therefore suggest that X-ray emission at the cluster core originates from an ensemble of low-and solar-mass pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars, each of which would be too weak in X-rays to be detected individually. We attribute the X-ray emission from the dusty ridge to the embedded tight cluster of the newborn stars known in this area from infrared studies. Assuming that the levels of X-ray activity in young stars in the low-metallicity environment of NGC 602a are comparable to their Galactic counterparts, then the detected spatial distribution, spectral properties, and level of X-ray emission are largely consistent with those expected from low-and solar-mass PMS stars and young stellar objects (YSOs). This is the first discovery of X-ray emission attributable to PMS stars and YSOs in the SMC, which suggests that the accretion and dynamo processes in young, low-mass objects in the SMC resemble those in the Galaxy. KW - Magellanic Clouds KW - ISM: bubbles KW - H II regions KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - stars: pre-main sequence KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/765/1/73 SN - 0004-637X VL - 765 IS - 1 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Ignace, Rico A1 - Gayley, Kenneth G. A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Huenemoerder, David P. A1 - Oskinova, Lida A1 - Pollock, Andy M. T. A1 - McFall, Michael T1 - THE XMM-NEWTON/EPIC X-RAY LIGHT CURVE ANALYSIS OF WR 6 JF - The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics N2 - We obtained four pointings of over 100 ks each of the well-studied Wolf-Rayet star WR 6 with the XMM-Newton satellite. With a first paper emphasizing the results of spectral analysis, this follow-up highlights the X-ray variability clearly detected in all four pointings. However, phased light curves fail to confirm obvious cyclic behavior on the well-established 3.766 day period widely found at longer wavelengths. The data are of such quality that we were able to conduct a search for event clustering in the arrival times of X-ray photons. However, we fail to detect any such clustering. One possibility is that X-rays are generated in a stationary shock structure. In this context we favor a corotating interaction region (CIR) and present a phenomenological model for X-rays from a CIR structure. We show that a CIR has the potential to account simultaneously for the X-ray variability and constraints provided by the spectral analysis. Ultimately, the viability of the CIR model will require both intermittent long-term X-ray monitoring of WR 6 and better physical models of CIR X-ray production at large radii in stellar winds. KW - stars: individual (WR 6) KW - stars: winds, outflows KW - stars: Wolf-Rayet KW - X-rays: stars Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/29 SN - 0004-637X VL - 775 IS - 1 PB - IOP Publ. Ltd. CY - Bristol ER -