Document Type

Article

Publication Date

12-1-2020

Published In

Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society

Abstract

New long Chandra grating observations of the O supergiant ζ Pup show not only a brightening of the X-ray emission line flux of 13 per cent in the 18 yr since Chandra’s first observing cycle, but also clear evidence – at more than 4σ significance – of increased wind absorption signatures in its Doppler-broadened line profiles. We demonstrate this with non-parametric analysis of the profiles as well as Gaussian fitting and then use line-profile model fitting to derive a mass-loss rate of 2.47 ± 0.09 × 10−6[Math Processing Error]⁠, which is a 40 per cent increase over the value obtained from the cycle 1 data. The increase in the individual emission line fluxes is greater for short-wavelength lines than long-wavelength lines, as would be expected if a uniform increase in line emission is accompanied by an increase in the wavelength-dependent absorption by the cold wind in which the shock-heated plasma is embedded.

Keywords

radiative transfer, stars: early-type, stars individual: ζ Puppis, stars: massive, stars: mass-loss, stars: winds, outflows, X-rays: stars

Comments

This article has been published in Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.

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