THE XMM-NEWTON/EPIC X-RAY LIGHT CURVE ANALYSIS OF WR 6
- 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 WRWe 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.…
Verfasserangaben: | Rico Ignace, Kenneth G. Gayley, Wolf-Rainer HamannORCiDGND, David P. Huenemoerder, Lida OskinovaORCiDGND, Andy M. T. Pollock, Michael McFall |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.1088/0004-637X/775/1/29 |
ISSN: | 0004-637X |
Titel des übergeordneten Werks (Englisch): | The astrophysical journal : an international review of spectroscopy and astronomical physics |
Verlag: | IOP Publ. Ltd. |
Verlagsort: | Bristol |
Publikationstyp: | Wissenschaftlicher Artikel |
Sprache: | Englisch |
Jahr der Erstveröffentlichung: | 2013 |
Erscheinungsjahr: | 2013 |
Datum der Freischaltung: | 26.03.2017 |
Freies Schlagwort / Tag: | X-rays: stars; stars: Wolf-Rayet; stars: individual (WR 6); stars: winds, outflows |
Band: | 775 |
Ausgabe: | 1 |
Seitenanzahl: | 12 |
Fördernde Institution: | NASA through the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory [SV3-73016]; DLR grant [50 OR 1302] |
Organisationseinheiten: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Physik und Astronomie |
Peer Review: | Referiert |