scholarly journals Observations of magnetic fields in hot stars

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S272) ◽  
pp. 106-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Petit
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Properties ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Hot Stars ◽  
Precise Information ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Modern Methods ◽  
New Generation

AbstractThe presence of magnetic fields at the surfaces of many massive stars has been suspected for decades, to explain the observed properties and activity of OB stars. However, very few genuine high-mass stars had been identified as magnetic before the advent of a new generation of powerful spectropolarimeters that has resulted in a rapid burst of precise information about the magnetic properties of massive stars. During this talk, I will briefly review modern methods used to diagnose magnetic fields of higher-mass stars, and summarize our current understanding of the magnetic properties of OB stars.

scholarly journals The Formation of Massive Stars

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S270) ◽  
pp. 57-64
Author(s):  
Ian A. Bonnell ◽  
Rowan J Smith
Keyword(s):  
Star Formation ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Massive Star ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Cluster Formation ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Prestellar Cores ◽  
Stellar Mergers ◽  
Massive Clusters ◽  
Viable Mechanism

AbstractThere has been considerable progress in our understanding of how massive stars form but still much confusion as to why they form. Recent work from several sources has shown that the formation of massive stars through disc accretion, possibly aided by gravitational and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities is a viable mechanism. Stellar mergers, on the other hand, are unlikely to occur in any but the most massive clusters and hence should not be a primary avenue for massive star formation. In contrast to this success, we are still uncertain as to how the mass that forms a massive star is accumulated. there are two possible mechanisms including the collapse of massive prestellar cores and competitive accretion in clusters. At present, there are theoretical and observational question marks as to the existence of high-mass prestellar cores. theoretically, such objects should fragment before they can attain a relaxed, centrally condensed and high-mass state necessary to form massive stars. Numerical simulations including cluster formation, feedback and magnetic fields have not found such objects but instead point to the continued accretion in a cluster potential as the primary mechanism to form high-mass stars. Feedback and magnetic fields act to slow the star formation process and will reduce the efficiencies from a purely dynamical collapse but otherwise appear to not significantly alter the process.

scholarly journals Magnetic fields, winds and X-rays of massive stars in the Orion nebula cluster

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S272) ◽  
pp. 208-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Petit ◽  
Gregg A. Wade ◽  
Evelyne Alecian ◽  
Laurent Drissen ◽  
Thierry Montmerle ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Magnetic Star ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Orion Nebula ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn some massive stars, magnetic fields are thought to confine the outflowing radiatively-driven wind. Although theoretical models and MHD simulations are able to illustrate the dynamics of such a magnetized wind, the impact of this wind-field interaction on the observable properties of a magnetic star - X-ray emission, photometric and spectral variability - is still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between magnetism, stellar winds and X-ray emission of OB stars, by providing empirical observations and confronting theory. In conjunction with the COUP survey of the Orion Nebula Cluster, we carried out spectropolarimatric ESPaDOnS observations to determine the magnetic properties of massive OB stars of this cluster.

scholarly journals The energetic role of massive stars in the AGN phenomenon

1999 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 703-715
Author(s):  
Timothy M. Heckman
Keyword(s):  
Black Holes ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Uv Light ◽  
Radiant Energy ◽  
Supermassive Black Holes ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Continuum Emission ◽  
Hot Stars

I review the evidence for a possible connection between AGN and starbursts and assess the energetic role of massive stars in the AGN phenomenon. My particular focus is on UV spectroscopy, since this is the energetically dominant spectral regime for the hot high-mass stars that power starbursts, and contains a wealth of spectral features for diagnosing the presence of such stars. I also review the non-stellar sources of UV line and continuum emission in AGN, including scattered or reprocessed light from the ‘central engine’. Spectroscopy directly shows that hot stars provide most of the UV light in about half of the brightest type 2 Seyfert nuclei and UV-bright LINERS. The population of hot stars in these AGN is typically heavily extinct and reddened by dust with A(1600Å) ≃ 2–4 mag. The implied intrinsic UV luminosities of the starburst range from 108 to 109 L⊙ in the LINERS to 1010 to 1011 L⊙ in the type 2 Seyferts. Massive stars play an energetically significant role in many AGN, but the causal or evolution connection between starbursts and AGN is unclear. I also consider the energetics of massive stars and accreting supermassive black holes from a global, cosmic perspective. Recent inventories in the local universe of the cumulative effect of nuclear burning (metal production) and of AGN-fueling (compact dark objects in galactic nuclei) imply that accretion onto supermassive black holes may have produced as much radiant energy as massive stars over the history of the universe.

scholarly journals Working Group on Hot Massive Stars (Groupe De Travail Sur Les Etoiles Massives Chaudes)

2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 176-185
Author(s):  
Philippe Eenens ◽  
Joseph Cassinelli ◽  
Peter Conti ◽  
Catharine Garmany ◽  
Karel van der Hucht ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Executive Committee ◽  
Working Group ◽  
Collaborative Research ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Starburst Galaxies ◽  
General Assembly ◽  
Hot Stars ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Luminous Blue Variables

The Working Group on Hot Massive Stars has been officially recognized by the IAU Executive Committee during the XXIII General Assembly in August 1997. Its origins are the Hot Star Newsletter, launched in 1994, and a long tradition of interaction and collaborative research strengthened by a series of meetings on hot beaches. It gathers over 500 researchers working on OB stars, Luminous Blue Variables, Wolf-Rayet stars, and in general all topics related to the evolution of massive stars and to the physics and consequences of winds from hot stars. The very successful recent symposium on “Wolf-Rayet phenomena in massive stars and starburst galaxies” is an indicator of the increasing interest of the extragalactic community in the study of these extraordinary stars.

scholarly journals Luminous Blue Variables, cool hypergiants and some impostors in the H-R diagram

2003 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Roberta M. Humphreys
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Surface Activity ◽  
Massive Star ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Luminous Blue Variables ◽  
Star Evolution ◽  
High Mass Loss ◽  
Massive Star Evolution

Current observations of the S Dor/LBVs and candidates and the implications for their important role in massive star evolution are reviewed. Recent observations of the cool hypergiants are altering our ideas about their evolutionary state, their atmospheres and winds, and the possible mechanisms for their asymmetric high mass loss episodes which may involve surface activity and magnetic fields. Recent results for IRC+10420, ρ Cas and VY CMa are highlighted. S Dor/LBVs in eruption, and the cool hypergiants in their high mass loss phases with their optically thick winds are not what their apparent spectra and temperatures imply; they are then ‘impostors’ on the H-R diagram. The importance of the very most massive stars, like η Carinae and the ‘supernovae impostors’ are also discussed.

scholarly journals Magnetic fields, winds and X-rays of massive stars in the Orion Nebula Cluster

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S259) ◽  
pp. 449-452 ◽  
Author(s):  
Véronique Petit ◽  
G. A. Wade ◽  
L. Drissen ◽  
T. Montmerle ◽  
E. Alecian
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Magnetic Confinement ◽  
Stellar Winds ◽  
X Rays ◽  
Orion Nebula ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Complex Processes ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractIn massive stars, magnetic fields are thought to confine the outflowing radiatively-driven wind, resulting in X-ray emission that is harder, more variable and more efficient than that produced by instability-generated shocks in non-magnetic winds. Although magnetic confinement of stellar winds has been shown to strongly modify the mass-loss and X-ray characteristics of massive OB stars, we lack a detailed understanding of the complex processes responsible. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between magnetism, stellar winds and X-ray emission of OB stars. In conjunction with a Chandra survey of the Orion Nebula Cluster, we carried out spectropolarimatric ESPaDOnS observations to determine the magnetic properties of massive OB stars of this cluster.

scholarly journals X-rays from magnetic massive OB stars

2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S302) ◽  
pp. 330-333
Author(s):  
V. Petit ◽  
D. H. Cohen ◽  
Y. Nazé ◽  
M. Gagné ◽  
R. H. D. Townsend ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Magnetic Activity ◽  
Magnetic Characteristics ◽  
Driving Mechanism ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Strong Winds

AbstractThe magnetic activity of solar-type and low-mass stars is a well known source of coronal X-ray emission. At the other end of the main sequence, X-rays emission is instead associated with the powerful, radiatively driven winds of massive stars. Indeed, the intrinsically unstable line-driving mechanism of OB star winds gives rise to shock-heated, soft emission (~0.5 keV) distributed throughout the wind. Recently, the latest generation of spectropolarimetric instrumentation has uncovered a population of massive OB-stars hosting strong, organized magnetic fields. The magnetic characteristics of these stars are similar to the apparently fossil magnetic fields of the chemically peculiar ApBp stars. Magnetic channeling of these OB stars' strong winds leads to the formation of large-scale shock-heated magnetospheres, which can modify UV resonance lines, create complex distributions of cooled Halpha emitting material, and radiate hard (~2-5 keV) X-rays. This presentation summarizes our coordinated observational and modelling efforts to characterize the manifestation of these magnetospheres in the X-ray domain, providing an important contrast between the emission originating in shocks associated with the large-scale fossil fields of massive stars, and the X-rays associated with the activity of complex, dynamo-generated fields in lower-mass stars.

scholarly journals A search for strong magnetic fields in massive and very massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds

2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A163
Author(s):  
S. Bagnulo ◽  
G. A. Wade ◽  
Y. Nazé ◽  
J. H. Grunhut ◽  
M. E. Shultz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Longitudinal Magnetic Field ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Magellanic Clouds ◽  
Dipolar Field ◽  
Strong Magnetic Fields ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Stellar Magnetic Fields ◽  
The Universe

Despite their rarity, massive stars dominate the ecology of galaxies via their strong, radiatively-driven winds throughout their lives and as supernovae in their deaths. However, their evolution and subsequent impact on their environment can be significantly affected by the presence of a magnetic field. While recent studies indicate that about 7% of OB stars in the Milky Way host strong, stable, organised (fossil) magnetic fields at their surfaces, little is known about the fields of very massive stars, nor the magnetic properties of stars outside our Galaxy. We aim to continue searching for strong magnetic fields in a diverse set of massive and very massive stars (VMS) in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMC), and we evaluate the overall capability of FORS2 to usefully search for and detect stellar magnetic fields in extra-galactic environments. We have obtained FORS2 spectropolarimetry of a sample of 41 stars, which principally consist of spectral types B, O, Of/WN, WNh, and classical WR stars in the LMC and SMC. Four of our targets are Of?p stars; one of them was just recently discovered. Each spectrum was analysed to infer the longitudinal magnetic field. No magnetic fields were formally detected in our study, although Bayesian statistical considerations suggest that the Of?p star SMC 159-2 is magnetic with a dipolar field of the order of 2.4–4.4 kG. In addition, our first constraints of magnetic fields in VMS provide interesting insights into the formation of the most massive stars in the Universe.

scholarly journals Observations of low mass companions to massive stars

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (H15) ◽  
pp. 760-760
Author(s):  
H. Zinnecker
Keyword(s):  
Massive Stars ◽  
High Mass ◽  
Multiple Systems ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
Spectroscopic Monitoring ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Low Mass ◽  
X Ray Binaries

Massive stars are known to be multiple systems, often in tight, short-period OB stars binaries (SB1 and SB2, found by spectroscopic monitoring). However, little is known about low-mass companions to massive stars, such as A, F, and G stars with masses in the range of 1 to 3 solar masses. Yet systems of massive stars with wide low-mass companions (of the order of a few AU) must exist, for these are the progenitors of LMXB and HMXB (low-mass and high-mass X-ray binaries).

scholarly journals Magnetic fluxes of massive stars: statistics and evolution

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S272) ◽  
pp. 198-199
Author(s):  
Alexander F. Kholtygin ◽  
Sergei N. Fabrika ◽  
Natalia A. Drake ◽  
Andrei P. Igoshev
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Fields ◽  
Neutron Stars ◽  
Massive Stars ◽  
Statistical Properties ◽  
Ob Stars ◽  
The Mean

AbstractThe statistical properties of magnetic fields and magnetic fluxes of OB stars were investigated. The mean magnetic fluxes of massive OB stars appear to be 3 order larger than those for neutron stars.

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