TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ramiaramanantsoa, Tahina
A1  - Moffat, Anthony F. J.
A1  - Harmon, Robert
A1  - Ignace, R.
A1  - St-Louis, Nicole
A1  - Vanbeveren, Dany
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Pablo, Herbert
A1  - Richardson, Noel D.
A1  - Howarth, Ian D.
A1  - Stevens, Ian R.
A1  - Piaulet, Caroline
A1  - St-Jean, Lucas
A1  - Eversberg, Thomas
A1  - Pigulski, Andrzej
A1  - Popowicz, Adam
A1  - Kuschnig, Rainer
A1  - Zoclonska, Elzbieta
A1  - Buysschaert, Bram
A1  - Handler, Gerald
A1  - Weiss, Werner W.
A1  - Wade, Gregg A.
A1  - Rucinski, Slavek M.
A1  - Zwintz, Konstanze
A1  - Luckas, Paul
A1  - Heathcote, Bernard
A1  - Cacella, Paulo
A1  - Powles, Jonathan
A1  - Locke, Malcolm
A1  - Bohlsen, Terry
A1  - Chené, André-Nicolas
A1  - Miszalski, Brent
A1  - Waldron, Wayne L.
A1  - Kotze, Marissa M.
A1  - Kotze, Enrico J.
A1  - Böhm, Torsten
T1  - BRITE-Constellation high-precision time-dependent photometry of the early O-type supergiant zeta Puppis unveils the photospheric drivers of its small- and large-scale wind structures
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - From 5.5 months of dual-band optical photometric monitoring at the 1 mmag level, BRITE-Constellation has revealed two simultaneous types of variability in the O4I(n)fp star ζ Puppis: one single periodic non-sinusoidal component superimposed on a stochastic component. The monoperiodic component is the 1.78-d signal previously detected by Coriolis/Solar Mass Ejection Imager, but this time along with a prominent first harmonic. The shape of this signal changes over time, a behaviour that is incompatible with stellar oscillations but consistent with rotational modulation arising from evolving bright surface inhomogeneities. By means of a constrained non-linear light-curve inversion algorithm, we mapped the locations of the bright surface spots and traced their evolution. Our simultaneous ground-based multisite spectroscopic monitoring of the star unveiled cyclical modulation of its He ii λ4686 wind emission line with the 1.78-d rotation period, showing signatures of corotating interaction regions that turn out to be driven by the bright photospheric spots observed by BRITE. Traces of wind clumps are also observed in the He ii λ4686 line and are correlated with the amplitudes of the stochastic component of the light variations probed by BRITE at the photosphere, suggesting that the BRITE observations additionally unveiled the photospheric drivers of wind clumps in ζ Pup and that the clumping phenomenon starts at the very base of the wind. The origins of both the bright surface inhomogeneities and the stochastic light variations remain unknown, but a subsurface convective zone might play an important role in the generation of these two types of photospheric variability.
KW  - techniques: photometric
KW  - techniques: spectroscopic
KW  - stars: massive
KW  - stars: rotation
KW  - starspots
KW  - supergiants
KW  - stars: winds, outflows
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2671
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 473
IS  - 4
SP  - 5532
EP  - 5569
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Richardson, Noel D.
A1  - Russell, Christopher M. P.
A1  - St-Jean, Lucas
A1  - Moffat, Anthony F. J.
A1  - St-Louis, Nicole
A1  - Shenar, Tomer
A1  - Pablo, Herbert
A1  - Hill, Grant M.
A1  - Ramiaramanantsoa, Tahina
A1  - Corcoran, Michael
A1  - Hamuguchi, Kenji
A1  - Eversberg, Thomas
A1  - Miszalski, Brent
A1  - Chene, Andre-Nicolas
A1  - Waldron, Wayne
A1  - Kotze, Enrico J.
A1  - Kotze, Marissa M.
A1  - Luckas, Paul
A1  - Cacella, Paulo
A1  - Heathcote, Bernard
A1  - Powles, Jonathan
A1  - Bohlsen, Terry
A1  - Locke, Malcolm
A1  - Handler, Gerald
A1  - Kuschnig, Rainer
A1  - Pigulski, Andrzej
A1  - Popowicz, Adam
A1  - Wade, Gregg A.
A1  - Weiss, Werner W.
T1  - The variability of the BRITE-est Wolf-Rayet binary, gamma(2) Velorum-I. Photometric and spectroscopic evidence for colliding winds
JF  - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
N2  - We report on the first multi-colour precision light curve of the bright Wolf-Rayet binary gamma(2) Velorum, obtained over six months with the nanosatellites in the BRITE-Constellation fleet. In parallel, we obtained 488 high-resolution optical spectra of the system. In this first report on the data sets, we revise the spectroscopic orbit and report on the bulk properties of the colliding winds. We find a dependence of both the light curve and excess emission properties that scales with the inverse of the binary separation. When analysing the spectroscopic properties in combination with the photometry, we find that the phase dependence is caused only by excess emission in the lines, and not from a changing continuum. We also detect a narrow, high-velocity absorption component from the He perpendicular to lambda 5876 transition, which appears twice in the orbit. We calculate smoothed-particle hydrodynamical simulations of the colliding winds and can accurately associate the absorption from He perpendicular to to the leading and trailing arms of the wind shock cone passing tangentially through our line of sight. The simulations also explain the general strength and kinematics of the emission excess observed in wind lines such as C III lambda 5696 of the system. These results represent the first in a series of investigations into the winds and properties of gamma(2) Velorum through multi-technique and multi-wavelength observational campaigns.
KW  - stars: early type
KW  - stars: individual: gamma(2) Vel
KW  - stars: mass loss
KW  - stars: winds
KW  - outflows
KW  - stars: Wolf-Rayet
Y1  - 2017
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx1731
SN  - 0035-8711
SN  - 1365-2966
VL  - 471
SP  - 2715
EP  - 2729
PB  - Oxford Univ. Press
CY  - Oxford
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Lopez, S.
A1  - Reimers, Dieter
A1  - Gregg, M. D.
A1  - Wisotzki, Lutz
A1  - Wucknitz, Olaf
A1  - Guzman, A.
T1  - Metal abundances in a damped Ly alpha system along two lines of sight at z=0.93
N2  - We study metal abundances in the z = 0.9313 damped Ly alpha system observed along the two lines of sight, A and B, toward the gravitationally lensed double QSO HE 0512-3329. Spatially resolved Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph spectra constrain the neutral-gas column density to be N(H I) = 1020.5 cm(-2) in both A and B. UV-visual Echelle Spectrograph spectra ( spectral resolution FWHM = 9.8 km s(-1)) show, in contrast, significant line-of-sight differences in the column densities of Mn II and Fe II; these are not due to observational systematics. We find that [Mn/H] = -1.44 and [Fe/H] = -1.52 in damped Ly alpha system A, while [Mn/H] = -0.98 and [Fe/H] > -1.32, and possibly as high as [Fe/H] approximate to -1, in damped Ly alpha system B. A careful assessment of possible systematic errors leads us to conclude that these transverse differences are significant at a 5 sigma level or greater. Although nucleosynthesis effects may also be at play, we favor differential dust depletion as the main mechanism producing the observed abundance gradient. The transverse separation is 5 h(70)(-1) kpc at the redshift of the absorber, which is also likely to be the lensing galaxy. The derived abundances therefore probe two opposite sides of a single galaxy hosting both damped Ly alpha systems. This is the first time firm abundance constraints have been obtained for a single damped system probed by two lines of sight. The significance of this finding for the cosmic evolution of metals is discussed
Y1  - 2005
SN  - 0004-637X
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Wucknitz, Olaf
A1  - Wisotzki, Lutz
A1  - Lopez, S.
A1  - Gregg, M. D.
T1  - Disentangling microlensing and differential extinction in the double QSO HE 0512-3329
N2  - We present the first separate spectra of both components of the small-separation double QSO HE 0512-3329 obtained with HST/STIS in the optical and near UV. The similarities especially of the emission line profiles and redshifts strongly suggest that this system really consists of two lensed images of one and the same source. The emission line flux ratios are assumed to be unaffected by microlensing and are used to study the differential extinction effects caused by the lensing galaxy. Fits of empirical laws show that the extinction properties seem to be different on both lines of sight. With our new results, HE 0512-3329 becomes one of the few extragalactic systems which show the 2175 Å absorption feature, although the detection is only marginal. We then correct the continuum flux ratio for extinction to obtain the differential microlensing signal. Since this may still be significantly affected by variability and time-delay effects, no detailled analysis of the microlensing is possible at the moment. This is the first time that differential extinction and microlensing could be separated unambiguously. We show that, at least in HE 0512-3329, both effects contribute significantly to the spectral differences and one cannot be analysed without taking into account the other. For lens modelling purposes, the flux ratios can only be used after correcting for both effects.
Y1  - 2003
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Gregg, M. D.
A1  - Schechter, P.
A1  - Becker, Rolf
A1  - Wisotzki, Lutz
A1  - Maza, J.
A1  - Laurent-Muehleisen, S.
A1  - White, R.
T1  - Two new high resolution surveys for lensed quasars
Y1  - 2001
SN  - 1-583-81074-9
ER  -