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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Astrophysics and Astronomy

Swarthmore College

2007

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

X-Ray Emission From O Stars, David H. Cohen Dec 2007

X-Ray Emission From O Stars, David H. Cohen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Young O stars are strong, hard, and variable X-ray sources, properties which strongly affect their circumstellar and galactic environments. After ~1 Myr, these stars settle down to become steady sources of soft X-rays. I use high-resolution X-ray spectroscopy and MHD modeling to show that young O stars like theta-1 Ori C are well explained by the magnetically channeled wind shock scenario. After their magnetic fields dissipate, older O stars produce X-rays via shock heating in their unstable stellar winds. Here too I use X-ray spectroscopy and numerical modeling to confirm this scenario. In addition to elucidating the nature and cause …


X-Rays From Magnetically Channeled Winds Of Ob Stars, In 'Magnetic Massive Stars', David H. Cohen Dec 2007

X-Rays From Magnetically Channeled Winds Of Ob Stars, In 'Magnetic Massive Stars', David H. Cohen

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

OB stars with strong radiation-driven stellar winds and large-scale magnetic fields generate strong and hard X-ray emission via the Magnetically Channeled Wind Shock (MCWS) mechanism. In this brief paper, I describe four separate X-ray diagnostics of the MCWS mechanism in OB stars, with applications to the prototype young O star, theta-1 Ori C.


Periodic Accretion From A Circumbinary Disk In The Young Binary Uz Tau E, Eric L.N. Jensen, Saurav Dhital , '06, K. G. Stassun, J. Patience, W. Herbst, F. M. Walter, M. Simon, G. Basri Jul 2007

Periodic Accretion From A Circumbinary Disk In The Young Binary Uz Tau E, Eric L.N. Jensen, Saurav Dhital , '06, K. G. Stassun, J. Patience, W. Herbst, F. M. Walter, M. Simon, G. Basri

Physics & Astronomy Faculty Works

Close pre-main-sequence binary stars are expected to clear central holes in their protoplanetary disks, but the extent to which material can flow from the circumbinary disk across the gap onto the individual circumstellar disks has been unclear. In binaries with eccentric orbits, periodic perturbation of the outer disk is predicted to induce mass flow across the gap, resulting in accretion that varies with the binary period. This accretion may manifest itself observationally as periodic changes in luminosity. Here we present a search for such periodic accretion in the pre-main-sequence spectroscopic binary UZ Tau E. We present BVRI photometry spanning 3 …