* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Zeta Puppis

Blobrana · L

Title: A detailed X-ray investigation of Zeta Puppis III. A spectral analysis of the whole RGS spectrum
Authors: A. Hervé, G. Rauw, Y. Nazé

Context. Zeta Pup is the X-ray brightest O-type star of the sky. This object was regularly observed with the RGS instrument aboard XMM-Newton for calibration purposes, leading to an unprecedented set of high-quality spectra.
Aims. We have previously reduced and extracted this data set and combined it into the most detailed high-resolution X-ray spectrum of any early-type star so far. Here we present the analysis of this spectrum accounting for the presence of structures in the stellar wind.
Methods. For this purpose, we use our new modelling tool that allows fitting the entire spectrum with a multi-temperature plasma. We illustrate the impact of a proper treatment of the radial dependence of the X-ray opacity of the cool wind on the best-fit radial distribution of the temperature of the X-ray plasma.
Results. The best fit of the RGS spectrum of Zeta Pup is obtained assuming no porosity. Four plasma components at temperatures between 0.10 and 0.69 keV are needed to adequately represent the observed spectrum. Whilst the hardest emission is concentrated between ~3 and 4 R*, the softer emission starts already at 1.5 R* and extends to the outer regions of the wind.
Conclusions. The inferred radial distribution of the plasma temperatures agrees rather well with theoretical expectations. The mass- loss rate and CNO abundances corresponding to our best-fit model also agree quite well with the results of recent studies of Zeta Pup in the UV and optical domain.

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Blobrana · L

Title: A detailed X-ray investigation of zeta Puppis - The variability on short and long timescales
Authors: Yael Naze (FNRS/ULg), Lidia M. Oskinova (Uni. Potsdam), Eric Gosset (FNRS/ULg)

Stellar winds are a crucial component of massive stars, but their exact properties still remain uncertain. To shed some light on this subject, we have analysed an exceptional set of X-ray observations of zeta Pup, one of the closest and brightest massive stars. The sensitive lightcurves that were derived reveal two major results. On the one hand, a slow modulation of the X-ray flux (with a relative amplitude of up to 15% over 16h in the 0.3--4.0keV band) is detected. Its characteristic timescale cannot be determined with precision, but amounts from one to several days. It could be related to corotating interaction regions, known to exist in zeta Pup from UV observations. Hour-long changes, linked to flares or to the pulsation activity, are not observed in the last decade covered by the XMM observations; the 17h tentative period, previously reported in a ROSAT analysis, is not confirmed either and is thus transient, at best. On the other hand, short-term changes are surprisingly small (<1% relative amplitude for the total energy band). In fact, they are compatible solely with the presence of Poisson noise in the data. This surprisingly low level of short-term variability, in view of the embedded wind-shock origin, requires a very high fragmentation of the stellar wind, for both absorbing and emitting features (>10^5 parcels, comparing with a 2D wind model). This is the first time that constraints have been placed on the number of clumps in an O-type star wind and from X-ray observations.

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Blobrana · L

Title: A detailed X-ray investigation of zeta Puppis I. The dataset and some preliminary results
Authors: Yael Naze (ULg), Carlos Arturo Flores (Univ. Guan.), Gregor Rauw (ULg)

Aims: zeta Puppis, one of the closest and brightest massive stars, was the first early-type object observed by the current generation of X-ray observatories. These data provided some surprising results, confirming partly the theoretical predictions while simultaneously unveiling some problematic mismatches with expectations. In this series of papers, we perform a thorough study of zeta Puppis in X-rays, using a decade of XMM observations.
Methods: zeta Puppis was observed 18 times by XMM, totalling 1Ms in exposure. This provides the highest-quality high-resolution X-ray spectrum of a massive star to date, as well as a perfect dataset for studying X-ray variability in an "archetype" object.
Results: This first paper reports on the data reduction of this unique dataset and provides a few preliminary results. On the one hand, the analysis of EPIC low-resolution spectra shows the star to have a remarkably stable X-ray emission from one observation to the next. On the other hand, the fitting by a wind model of individual line profiles recorded by RGS confirms the wavelength dependence of the line morphology.

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Blobrana · L

Title: Zeta Pup: the merger of at least two massive stars
Authors: Dany Vanbeveren

We first discuss the stellar and wind parameters of zeta Pup resulting from detailed UV diagnostics. These parameters together with the runaway nature of the star can most easily be explained by dynamical binary-binary or binary-single star interactions in dense stellar clusters. In this case zeta Pup is most likely the merger of at least two massive stars.

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