The investigation of particle accelerators among massive stars using radio observations

Massive stars are known to produce strong stellar winds that consist of continuous outflows of material at speeds of thousands of km/s. These winds convey large amounts of kinetic power. When these winds interact with nearby material, they are likely to produce shocks. Among other processes, particle acceleration is expected to occur. This is in particular well-established in the case of massive binaries where stellar winds collide, allowing these systems to be identified thanks to the detection of synchrotron radio emission. This current collaboration within BINA is focusing on the search for hints of synchrotron radio emission using mainly the Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope (GMRT), with the prospect of identifying particle accelerators among massive stars in their pre-supernova evolution phases. This project is especially relevant in the framework of the acceleration of cosmic rays in the Galactic environment.