scholarly journals New observations of NGC 1624-2 reveal a complex magnetospheric structure and underlying surface magnetic geometry*

Author(s):  
A David-Uraz ◽  
V Petit ◽  
M E Shultz ◽  
A W Fullerton ◽  
C Erba ◽  
...  

Abstract NGC 1624-2 is the most strongly magnetized O-type star known. Previous spectroscopic observations of this object in the ultraviolet provided evidence that it hosts a large and dense circumstellar magnetosphere. Follow-up observations obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope not only confirm that previous inference, but also suggest that NGC 1624-2’s magnetosphere has a complex structure. Furthermore, an expanded spectropolarimetric time series shows a potential departure from a dipolar magnetic field geometry, which could mean that the strongest field detected at the surface of an O-type star is also topologically complex. This result raises important questions regarding the origin and evolution of magnetic fields in massive stars.

2003 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 483-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Alberto López

The study of collimated outflows (COFs) in planetary nebulae (PNe) has experienced vigorous activity since the last IAU symposium on PNe, held in Groningen in 1996, for the understanding of the origin and evolution of these outflows is directly linked to the mechanisms of PN formation. Collimated outflows in planetary nebulae (PNe) have diverse characteristics and are observed as bipolar, multipolar, point-symmetric and jet-like outflows. The Hubble Space Telescope has been instrumental in revealing the complex structure and pervasive presence of COFs in a large number of PNe during the last lustrum. Significant advances have also been achieved in the study of the molecular component associated with these outflows. On the theoretical side, models that incorporate the influence of binary cores and magnetic fields have gained particular strength in explaining the origin of COFs. This review attempts to summarize some of the main progresses in the study of COFs during the last years.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S271) ◽  
pp. 135-144
Author(s):  
Ellen G. Zweibel

AbstractThe origin and evolution of magnetic fields in the Universe is a cosmological problem. Although exotic mechanisms for magneotgenesis cannot be ruled out, galactic magnetic fields could have been seeded by magnetic fields from stars and accretion disks, and must be continuously regenerated due to the ongoing replacement of the interstellar medium. Unlike stellar dynamos, galactic dynamos operate in a multicomponent gas at low collisionality and high magnetic Prandtl number. Their background turbulence is highly compressible, the plasma β ~ 1, and there has been time for only a few large exponentiation times at large scale over cosmic time. Points of similarity include the importance of magnetic buoyancy, the large range of turbulent scales and tiny microscopic scales, and the coupling between the magnetic field and certain properties of the flow. Understanding the origin and maintenance of the large scale galactic magnetic field is the most challenging aspect of the problem.


1988 ◽  
Vol 132 ◽  
pp. 199-204
Author(s):  
Artie P. Hatzes

The magnetic Ap stars are characterized by the presence of large magnetic fields which undergo periodic variations. These magnetic field variations are accompanied by spectral variations caused by the inhomogeneous distribution of elements on the stellar surface. It is believed that the magnetic field plays an important role in determining this distribution. Accurate maps of the surface distribution of elements would provide valuable probes as to the field geometry as well as provide clues to the role of the magnetic fields in the atmospheres of these stars. We have developed a new technique for mapping the local equivalent width on a stellar surface from the observed spectral line variations.


2019 ◽  
Vol 82 ◽  
pp. 365-371
Author(s):  
K. Augustson ◽  
S. Mathis ◽  
A. Strugarek

This paper provides a brief overview of the formation of stellar fossil magnetic fields and what potential instabilities may occur given certain configurations of the magnetic field. One such instability is the purely magnetic Tayler instability, which can occur for poloidal, toroidal, and mixed poloidal-toroidal axisymmetric magnetic field configurations. However, most of the magnetic field configurations observed at the surface of massive stars are non-axisymmetric. Thus, extending earlier studies in spherical geometry, we introduce a formulation for the global change in the potential energy contained in a convectively-stable region for both axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric magnetic fields.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (A30) ◽  
pp. 123-123
Author(s):  
Markus Schöller ◽  
Swetlana Hubrig

AbstractModels of magnetically driven accretion reproduce many observational properties of T Tauri stars. For the more massive Herbig Ae/Be stars, the corresponding picture has been questioned lately, in part driven by the fact that their magnetic fields are typically one order of magnitude weaker. Indeed, the search for magnetic fields in Herbig Ae/Be stars has been quite time consuming, with a detection rate of about 10% (e.g. Alecian et al. 2008), also limited by the current potential to detect weak magnetic fields. Over the last two decades, magnetic fields were found in about twenty objects (Hubrig et al. 2015) and for only two Herbig Ae/Be stars was the magnetic field geometry constrained. Ababakr, Oudmaijer & Vink (2017) studied magnetospheric accretion in 56 Herbig Ae/Be stars and found that the behavior of Herbig Ae stars is similar to T Tauri stars, while Herbig Be stars earlier than B7/B8 are clearly different. The origin of the magnetic fields in Herbig Ae/Be stars is still under debate. Potential scenarios include the concentration of the interstellar magnetic field under magnetic flux conservation, pre-main-sequence dynamos during convective phases, mergers, or common envelope developments. The next step in this line of research will be a dedicated observing campaign to monitor about two dozen HAeBes over their rotation cycle.


2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (S272) ◽  
pp. 196-197
Author(s):  
Swetlana Hubrig ◽  
Michel Curé ◽  
Ilya Ilyin ◽  
Markus Schöller

AbstractWe recently carried out a spectropolarimetric study of a sample of massive O-type stars and pulsating β Cephei stars using the SOFIN echelle spectrograph at the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope and the low-resolution FORS 2 spectrograph at the VLT in spectropolarimetric mode. The sample consists of massive stars already detected as magnetic in the course of our previous low-resolution polarimetric observations with FORS 1 and a few O-type stars with magnetic field detections reported in the literature.


2020 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. A163
Author(s):  
S. Bagnulo ◽  
G. A. Wade ◽  
Y. Nazé ◽  
J. H. Grunhut ◽  
M. E. Shultz ◽  
...  

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.


2020 ◽  
Vol 495 (4) ◽  
pp. 4297-4305
Author(s):  
L Sabin ◽  
R Sahai ◽  
W H T Vlemmings ◽  
Q Zhang ◽  
A A Zijlstra ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT In a continuing effort to investigate the role of magnetic fields in evolved low- and intermediate-mass stars (principally regarding the shaping of their envelopes), we present new Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) high-resolution polarization data obtained for the nebula OH 231.8+4.2. We found that the polarized emission likely arises from aligned grains in the presence of magnetic fields rather than radiative alignment and self-scattering. The ALMA data show well organized electric field orientations in most of the nebula and the inferred magnetic field vectors (rotated by 90°) trace an hourglass morphology centred on the central system of the nebula. One region in the southern part of OH 231.8+4.2 shows a less organized distribution probably due to the shocked environment. These findings, in conjunction with earlier investigations (maser studies and dust emission analysis at other scales and wavelengths) suggest an overall magnetic hourglass located inside a toroidal field. We propose the idea that the magnetic field structure is closely related to the architecture of a magnetic tower and that the outflows were therefore magnetically launched. While the current dynamical effect of the fields might be weak in the equatorial plane principally due to the evolution of the envelope, it would still be affecting the outflows. In that regard, the measurement of the magnetic field at the stellar surface, which is still missing, combined with a full magnetohydrodynamic treatment are required to better understand and constrain the events occurring in OH 231.8+4.2.


2013 ◽  
Vol 9 (S302) ◽  
pp. 166-169
Author(s):  
T. Gastine ◽  
J. Morin ◽  
L. Duarte ◽  
A. Reiners ◽  
U. Christensen ◽  
...  

AbstractObservations of active M dwarfs show a broad variety of large-scale magnetic fields encompassing dipole-dominated and multipolar geometries. We detail the analogy between some anelastic dynamo simulations and spectropolarimetric observations of 23 M stars. In numerical models, the relative contribution of inertia and Coriolis force –estimated by the so-called local Rossby number– is known to have a strong impact on the magnetic field geometry. We discuss the relevance of this parameter in setting the large-scale magnetic field of M dwarfs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document