Massive stars; X-rays: stars; Acceleration of particles; Astrophysics; Space
Abstract :
[en] We conducted an observational campaign towards one of the most massive and luminous colliding wind binaries in the Galaxy, HD 93129A, close to its periastron passage in 2018. During this time the source was predicted to be in its maximum of high-energy emission. We present the results from our observations with the X-ray satellites Chandra and NuSTAR and the γ-ray satellite AGILE. High-energy emission coincident with HD 93129A was detected in the X-ray band up to ∼18 keV, whereas in the γ-ray band only upper limits were obtained. We interpret the derived fluxes using a non-thermal radiative model for the wind-collision region. We estimate the fraction of the wind kinetic power that is converted into relativistic electron acceleration and the magnetic field in the wind-collision region. We conclude that multiwavelength, dedicated observing campaigns during carefully selected epochs are a powerful tool for characterizing the relativistic particle content and magnetic field intensity in colliding wind binaries.
Research center :
STAR - Space sciences, Technologies and Astrophysics Research - ULiège
Disciplines :
Space science, astronomy & astrophysics
Author, co-author :
Del Palacio, S.; Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía, Villa Elisa, Argentina
García, F.; Kapteyn Astronomical Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
Altamirano, D.; School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom
Corcoran, M.; CRESST II and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
Hamaguchi, K.; CRESST II and X-ray Astrophysics Laboratory NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD
Barbá, R. H.; Departamento de Astronomía, Universidad de La Serena, La Serena, Chile
Bosch-Ramon, V.; Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
De Becker, Michaël ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'astrophys., géophysique et océanographie (AGO) > Origines Cosmologiques et Astrophysiques (OrCa)
Maíz Apellániz, J.; Centro de Astrobiología, CSIC-INTA, Madrid, Spain
Munar Adrover, P.; Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Paredes, J. M.; Institut de Ciències del Cosmos (ICCUB), Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Romero, G. E.; Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía, Villa Elisa, Argentina
Sana, H.; Instituut voor Sterrenkunde, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Tavani, M.; INAF-IAPS, Roma, Italy
Ud-Doula, A.; Department of Physics, Penn State Scranton, Dunmore, PA)
