J. M. Pittard

In hot pursuit of the hidden companion of Carinae: An X-ray determination of the wind parameters

We present X-ray spectral ts to a recently obtained Chandra grating spectrum of Carinae, one of the most massive and powerful stars in the Galaxy and which is strongly suspected to be a colliding wind binary system. Hydrodynamic models of colliding winds are used to generate synthetic X-ray spectra for a range of mass-loss rates and wind velocities. They are then tted against newly acquired Chandra grating data. We nd that due to the low velocity of the primary wind (500 km s 1 ), most of the observed X-ray emission appears to arise from the shocked wind of the companion star. We use the duration of the lightcurve minimum to x the wind momentum ratio at =0 :2. We are then able to obtain a good t to the data by varying the mass-loss rate of the companion and the terminal velocity of its wind. We nd that _ M 2 10 5 M yr 1 and v12 3000 km s 1 . With observationally determined values of500{700 km s 1 for the velocity of the primary wind, our t implies a primary mass-loss rate of _ M 1 2:5 10 4 M yr 1 . This value is smaller than commonly inferred, although we note that a lower mass-loss rate can reduce some of the problems noted by Hillier et al. (2001) when a value as high as 10 3 M yr 1 is used. The wind parameters of the companion are indicative of a massive star which may or may not be evolved. The line strengths appear to show slightly sub-solar abundances, although this needs further conrmation. Based on the over-estimation of the X-ray line strengths in our model, and re-interpretation of the HST/FOS results, it appears that the Homunculus nebula was produced by the primary star.

Feedback from winds and supernovae in massive stellar clusters – I. Hydrodynamics

We use 3D hydrodynamical models to investigate the effects of massive star feedback from winds and supernovae on inhomogeneous molecular material left over from the formation of a massive stellar cluster. We simulate the interaction of the mechanical energy input from a cluster with 3 O-stars into a giant molecular cloud (GMC) clump containing 3240 solar masses of molecular material within a 4 pc radius. The cluster wind blows out of the molecular clump along low-density channels, into which denser clump material is entrained. We find that the densest molecular regions are surprisingly resistant to ablation by the cluster wind, in part due to shielding by other dense regions closer to the cluster. Nonetheless, molecular material is gradually removed by the cluster wind during which mass-loading factors in excess of several 100 are obtained. Because the clump is very porous, 60-75 per cent of the injected wind energy escapes the simulation domain, with the difference being radiated. After 4.4 Myr, the massive stars in our simulation begin to explode as supernovae. The highly structured environment into which the SN energy is released allows even weaker coupling to the remaining dense material and practically all of the SN energy reaches the wider environment. The molecular material is almost completely dispersed and destroyed after 6 Myr. The escape fraction of ionizing radiation is estimated to be about 50 per cent during the first 4 Myr of the clusters life. A similar model with a larger and more massive GMC clump reveals the same general picture, though more time is needed for it to be destroyed.

3D modelling of the colliding winds in η Carinae – evidence for radiative inhibition

The X-ray emission from the super-massive star η Car is simulated using a three dimensional model of the wind-wind collision. In the model the intrinsic X-ray emission is spatially extended and energy dependent. Absorption due to the unshocked stellar winds and the cooled postshock material from the primary LBV star is calculated as the intrinsic emission is ray-traced along multiple sightlines through the 3D spiral structure of the circumstellar environment. The observable emission is then compared to available X-ray data, including the lightcurve observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer (RXTE) and spectra observed by XMM-Newton. The orientation and eccentricity of the orbit are explored, as are the wind parameters of the stars and the nature and physics of their close approach. Our modelling supports a viewing angle with an inclination of ≃ 42 ◦ , consistent with the polar axis of the Homunculus nebula (Smith 2006), and the projection of the observer’s line-of-sight onto the orbital plane has an angle of ≃ 0 − 30 ◦ in the prograde direction on the apastron side of the semi-major axis. However, there are significant discrepancies between the observed and model lightcurves and spectra through the X-ray minimum. In particular, the hard flux in our synthetic spectra is an order of magnitude greater than observed. This suggests that the hard X-ray emission near the apex of the wind-wind collision region (WCR) ‘switches off’ from periastron until 2 months afterwards. Further calculations reveal that radiative inhibition significantly reduces the preshock velocity of the companion wind. As a consequence the hard X-ray emission is quenched, but it is unclear whether the long duration of the minimum is due solely to this mechanism alone. For instance, it is possible that the collapse of the WCR onto the surface of the companion star, which would be aided by significant inhibition of the companion wind, could cause an extended minimum as the companion wind struggles to re-establish itself as the stars recede. For orbital eccentricities, e ∼ 0.95, radiative braking prevents a wind collision with the companion star’s surface. Models incorporating a collapse/disruption of the WCR and/or reduced preshock companion wind velocities bring the predicted emission and the observations into much better agreement.

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE CHANDRA CARINA COMPLEX PROJECT

The Great Nebula in Carina provides an exceptional view into the violent massive star formation and feedback that typifies giant H II regions and starburst galaxies. We have mapped the Carina star-forming complex in X-rays, using archival Chandra data and a mosaic of 20 new 60 ks pointings using the Chandra X-ray Observatorys Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer, as a testbed for understanding recent and ongoing star formation and to probe Carinas regions of bright diffuse X-ray emission. This study has yielded a catalog of properties of > 14,000 X-ray point sources;> 9800 of them have multiwavelength counterparts. Using Chandras unsurpassed X-ray spatial resolution, we have separated these point sources from the extensive, spatially-complex diffuse emission that pervades the region; X-ray properties of this diffuse emission suggest that it traces feedback from Carinas massive stars. In this introductory paper, we motivate the survey design, describe the Chandra observations, and present some simple results, providing a foundation for the 15 papers that follow in this special issue and that present detailed catalogs, methods, and science results.

3D models of radiatively driven colliding winds in massive O+O star binaries – I. Hydrodynamics

The dynamics of the wind–wind collision in massive stellar binaries are investigated using 3D hydrodynamical models which incorporate gravity, the driving of the winds, the orbital motion of the stars and radiative cooling of the shocked plasma. In this first paper, we restrict our study to main-sequence O+O binaries. The nature of the wind–wind collision region is highly dependent on the degree of cooling of the shocked plasma, and the ratio of the flow time-scale of the shocked plasma to the orbital time-scale. The pre-shock wind speeds are lower in close systems as the winds collide prior to their acceleration to terminal speeds. Radiative inhibition may also reduce the pre-shock wind speeds. Together, these effects can lead to rapid cooling of the post-shock gas. Radiative inhibition is less important in wider systems, where the winds are accelerated to higher speeds before they collide, and the resulting collision region can be largely adiabatic. In systems with eccentric orbits, cold gas formed during periastron passage can persist even at apastron, before being ablated and mixed into its surroundings and/or accelerated out of the system.

X-Ray Spectral Variation of η Carinae through the 2003 X-Ray Minimum

We report the results of an observing campaign on η Car around the 2003 X-ray minimum, mainly using the XMM-Newton observatory. These are the first spatially resolved X-ray monitoring observations of the stellar X-ray spectrum during the minimum. The hard X-ray emission, associated with the wind-wind collision (WWC) in the binary system, varied strongly in flux on timescales of days, but not significantly on timescales of hours. The X-ray flux in the 2-10 keV band seen by XMM-Newton was only 0.7% of the flux maximum seen by RXTE. The slope of the X-ray continuum above 5 keV did not vary in any observation, which suggests that the electron temperature of the hottest plasma did not vary significantly at any phase. Through the minimum, the absorption to the stellar source increased by a factor of 5-10 to NH ~ (3-4) × 1023 cm-2. These variations were qualitatively consistent with emission from the WWC plasma entering into the dense wind of the massive primary star. During the minimum, X-ray spectra also showed significant excesses in the thermal Fe XXV emission line on the red side, while they showed only a factor of 2 increase in equivalent width of the Fe fluorescence line at 6.4 keV. These features are not fully consistent with the eclipse of the X-ray plasma and may suggest an intrinsic fading of the X-ray emissivity. The drop in the WWC emission revealed the presence of an additional X-ray component that exhibited no variation on timescales of weeks to years. This component may be produced by the collision of high-speed outflows at v ~ 1000-2000 km s-1 from η Car with ambient gas within a few thousand AU from the star.

Spiraling Out of Control: Three-dimensional Hydrodynamical Modeling of the Colliding Winds in η Carinae

Three-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynamical simulations of the wind-wind collision between the enigmatic supermassive star η Car and its mysterious companion star are presented which include radiative driving of the stellar winds, gravity, optically thin radiative cooling, and orbital motion. Simulations with static stars with a periastron passage separation reveal that the preshock companion stars wind speed is sufficiently reduced so that radiative cooling in the postshock gas becomes important, permitting the runaway growth of nonlinear thin-shell instabilities (NTSIs) which massively distort the wind-wind collision region (WCR). However, large-scale simulations, which include the orbital motion of the stars, show that orbital motion reduces the impact of radiative inhibition and thus increases the acquired preshock velocities. As such, the postshock gas temperature and cooling time see a commensurate increase, and sufficient gas pressure is preserved to stabilize the WCR against catastrophic instability growth. We then compute synthetic X-ray spectra and light curves and find that, compared to previous models, the X-ray spectra agree much better with XMM-Newton observations just prior to periastron. The narrow width of the 2009 X-ray minimum can also be reproduced. However, the models fail to reproduce the extended X-ray minimum from previous cycles. We conclude that the key to explaining the extended X-ray minimum is the rate of cooling of the companion stars postshock wind. If cooling is rapid then powerful NTSIs will heavily disrupt the WCR. Radiative inhibition of the companion stars preshock wind, albeit with a stronger radiation-wind coupling than explored in this work, could be an effective trigger.Three dimensional (3D) adaptive-mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamical simulations of the wind-wind collision between the enigmatic super-massive star \etacar and its mysterious companion star are presented which include radiative driving of the stellar winds, gravity, optically-thin radiative cooling, and orbital motion. Simulations with static stars with a periastron passage separation reveal that the preshock companion stars wind speed is sufficiently reduced that radiative cooling in the postshock gas becomes important, permitting the runaway growth of non-linear thin shell (NTSI) instabilities which massively distort the WCR. However, large-scale simulations which include the orbital motion of the stars, show that orbital motion reduces the impact of radiative inhibition, and thus increases the acquired preshock velocities. As such, the postshock gas temperature and cooling time see a commensurate increase, and sufficient gas pressure is preserved to stabilize the WCR against catastrophic instability growth. We then compute synthetic X-ray spectra and lightcurves and find that, compared to previous models, the X-ray spectra agree much better with {\it XMM-Newton} observations just prior to periastron. The narrow width of the 2009 X-ray minimum can also be reproduced. However, the models fail to reproduce the extended X-ray mimimum from previous cycles. We conclude that the key to explaining the extended X-ray minimum is the rate of cooling of the companion stars postshock wind. If cooling is rapid then powerful NTSIs will heavily disrupt the WCR. Radiative inhibition of the companion stars preshock wind, albeit with a stronger radiation-wind coupling than explored in this work, could be an effective trigger.

Radio emission models of colliding-wind binary systems

We present calculations of the spatial and spectral distribution of the radio emission from a wide WR+OB colliding- wind binary system based on high-resolution hydrodynamical simulations and solutions to the radiative transfer equation. We account for both thermal and synchrotron radio emission, free-free absorption in both the unshocked stellar wind envelopes and the shocked gas, synchrotron self-absorption, and the Razin eect. To calculate the synchrotron emission several simplifying assumptions are adopted: the relativistic particle energy density is a simple fraction of the thermal particle energy density, in equipartition with the magnetic energy density, and a power-law in energy. We also assume that the magnetic field is tangled such that the resulting emission is isotropic. The applicability of these calculations to modelling radio images and spectra of colliding-wind systems is demonstrated with models of the radio emission from the wide WR+OB binary WR 147. Its synchrotron spectrum follows a power-law between 5 and 15 GHz but turns down to below this at lower and higher frequencies. We find that while free-free opacity from the circum-binary stellar winds can potentially account for the low-frequency turnover, models that also include a combination of synchrotron self-absorption and Razin eect are favoured. We argue that the high- frequency turn down is a consequence of inverse-Compton cooling. We present our resulting spectra and intensity distributions, along with simulated MERLIN observations of these intensity distributions. From these we argue that the inclination of the WR 147 system to the plane of the sky is low. We summarise by considering extensions of the current model that are important for models of the emission from closer colliding wind binaries, in particular the dramatically varying radio emission of WR 140.

3D models of radiatively driven colliding winds in massive O + O star binaries – III. Thermal X‐ray emission

The X-ray emission from the wind–wind collision in short-period massive O + O star binaries is investigated. The emission is calculated from 3D hydrodynamical models which incorporate gravity, the driving of the winds, orbital motion of the stars and radiative cooling of the shocked plasma. Changes in the amount of stellar occultation and circumstellar attenuation introduce phase-dependent X-ray variability in systems with circular orbits, while strong variations in the intrinsic emission also occur in systems with eccentric orbits. The X-ray emission in eccentric systems can display strong hysteresis, with the emission softer after periastron than at corresponding orbital phases prior to periastron, reflecting the physical state of the shocked plasma at these times. Our simulated X-ray light curves bear many similarities to observed light curves. In systems with circular orbits the light curves show two minima per orbit, which are identical (although not symmetric) if the winds are identical. The maxima in the light curves are produced near quadrature, with a phase delay introduced due to the aberration and curvature of the wind collision region. Circular systems with unequal winds produce minima of different depths and duration. In systems with eccentric orbits the maxima in the light curves may show a very sharp peak (depending on the orientation of the observer), followed by a precipitous drop due to absorption and/or cooling. We show that the rise to maximum does not necessarily follow a 1/dsep law. Our models further demonstrate that the effective circumstellar column can be highly energy dependent. Therefore, spectral fits which assume energy-independent column(s) are overly simplified and may compromise the interpretation of observed data. To better understand observational analyses of such systems we apply Chandra and Suzaku response files, plus Poisson noise, to the spectra calculated from our simulations and fit these using standard xspec models. We find that the recovered temperatures from two- or three-temperature mekal fits are comparable to those from fits to the emission from real systems with similar stellar and orbital parameters/nature. We also find that when the global abundance is thawed in the spectral fits, subsolar values are exclusively returned, despite the calculations using solar values as input. This highlights the problem of fitting oversimplified models to data, and of course is of wider significance than just the work presented here. Further insight into the nature of the stellar winds and the wind–wind collision region in particular systems will require dedicated hydrodynamical modelling, the results of which will follow in due course.

RECENT X-RAY VARIABILITY OF η CARINAE: THE QUICK ROAD TO RECOVERY

We report continued monitoring of the superluminous binary system η Car by the Proportional Counter Array on the Rossi X-ray Timing Observatory (RXTE) through the 2009 X-ray minimum. The RXTE campaign shows that the minimum began on 2009 January 16, consistent with the phasings of the two previous minima, and overall, the temporal behavior of the X-ray emission was similar to that observed by RXTE in the previous two cycles. However, important differences did occur. The 2-10 keV X-ray flux and X-ray hardness decreased in the 2.5 year interval leading up to the 2009 minimum compared to the previous cycle. Most intriguingly, the 2009 X-ray minimum was about 1 month shorter than either of the previous two minima. During the egress from the 2009 minimum the X-ray hardness increased markedly as it had during egress from the previous two minima, although the maximum X-ray hardness achieved was less than the maximum observed after the two previous recoveries. We suggest that the cycle-to-cycle variations, especially the unexpectedly early recovery from the 2009 X-ray minimum, might have been the result of a decline in η Cars wind momentum flux produced by a drop in η Cars mass loss rate or wind terminal velocity (or some combination), though if so the change in wind momentum flux required to match the X-ray variation is surprisingly large.