This paper presents an investigation of the X-ray emission associated with the Wolf-Rayet star, WR 48-6, using observations from the XMM Newton and Chandra X-ray telescopes covering two epochs separated by eleven months. The X-ray spectrum of WR 48-6 is well explained by a two-temperature plasma model, with cool and hot plasma temperatures of $0.8_{-0.2}^{\,+0.1}$ and $2.86_{-0.66}^{\,+1.01}$ keV. No significant X-ray variability is observed during these two epochs of observations. However, an increase in the local hydrogen column density accompanied by a decrease in the intrinsic X-ray flux between two epochs of observations is seen. Additionally, the intrinsic X-ray luminosity is found to be more than $10^{33} \rm\,erg\,s^{-1}$ during both epochs of observations. Based on the analysis presented, WR 48-6 is a promising colliding wind binary candidate with a possible companion of spectral type O5-O6.
Some OB stars show variable non-thermal radio emission. The non-thermal emission is due to synchrotron radiation that is emitted by electrons accelerated to high energies. The electron acceleration occurs at strong shocks created by the collision of radiatively-driven stellar winds in binary systems. Here we present results of our modelling of two colliding wind systems: Cyg OB2 No. 8A and Cyg OB2 No. 9.
In this contribution we model the non-thermal emission (from radio to gamma-rays) produced in the compact (and recently detected) colliding wind region in the multiple stellar system Cyg OB2 #5. We focus our study on the detectability of the produced gamma-rays.
Many early-type stars are in binary systems. A number of them shows radio emissivity with periodic variability. This variability is associated with non-thermal synchrotron radiation emitted by relativistic electrons. The strong shocks necessary to accelerate the electrons up to high energies are produced by the collision of the radiatively-driven stellar winds. A study of the non-thermal emission is necessary in order to investigate O-star colliding wind binaries. Here preliminary results of our modeling of the colliding winds in Cyg OB2 No.9 are presented.
Gamma-ray binaries are colliding wind binaries (CWB) composed of a massive star a non-accreting pulsar with a highly relativistic wind. Particle acceleration at the shocks results in emission going from extended radio emission to the gamma-ray band. The interaction region is expected to show common features with stellar CWB. Performing numerical simulations with the hydrodynamical code RAMSES, we focus on their structure and stability and find that the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) can lead to important mixing between the winds and destroy the large scale spiral structure. To investigate …
Several colliding-wind massive binaries are known to be non-thermal emitters in the radio domain. This constitutes strong evidence for the fact that an efficient particle acceleration process is at work in these objects. The acceleration mechanism is most probably the Diffusive Shock Acceleration (DSA) process in the presence of strong hydrodynamic shocks due to the colliding-winds. In order to investigate the physics of this particle acceleration, we initiated a multiwavelength campaign covering a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum. In this context, the detailed study of the hard X-ra…
We present high resolution simulations with RAMSES of supersonic colliding stellar winds. The collision results in a double shock structure which is subject to different instabilities. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) introduces some mixing and variability. For isothermal winds, the Non-linear Thin Shell Instability violently affects the interaction region. Properly modelling these instabilities requires a high enough resolution and an adapted numerical method, especially when one of the winds strongly dominates the other one. At large scale, orbital motion is expected to turn the shocke…
The interaction between the strong winds of the stars in colliding-wind binary (CWB) systems produces two shock fronts, delimiting the wind collision region (WCR). There, particles are expected to be accelerated mainly via diffusive shock acceleration, and to produce $γ$-rays, in processes involving relativistic electrons and/or protons. We investigate the injection and the acceleration of protons in typical CWB systems by means of Monte Carlo simulations, with a test-particle approach. We use magnetohydrodynamic simulations to determine the background conditions in the wind collision region. …
The long-term (over more than one decade) X-ray emission from two massive stellar systems known to be particle accelerators is investigated using XMM-Newton. Their X-ray properties are interpreted taking into account recent information about their multiplicity and orbital parameters. The two targets, HD168112 and HD167971 appear to be overluminous in X-rays, lending additional support to the idea that a significant contribution of the X-ray emission comes from colliding-wind regions. The variability of the X-ray flux from HD168112 is interpreted in terms of varying separation expected to follo…
Binary systems formed by early-type stars with strong winds are known to display variable non-thermal radio emission, thermal X-rays, and, at least in one case (Eta Carina), $γ$ rays. Some of these systems are quite eccentric and the conditions for efficient particle acceleration and $γ$-ray production might manifest only occasionally. In this paper I briefly review the physics of colliding wind binaries with emphasis on the observational signatures of non-thermal particle acceleration. I discuss, in particular, the case of the system HD 93129A which is made up by an O2 If* star (the primary) …
The Galactic Centre is a hotbed of astrophysical activity, with the injection of wind material from $\sim$30 massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars orbiting within 12 arcsec of the supermassive black hole (SMBH) playing an important role. Hydrodynamic simulations of such colliding and accreting winds produce a complex density and temperature structure of cold wind material shocking with the ambient medium, creating a large reservoir of hot, X-ray-emitting gas. This work aims to confront the 3 Ms of Chandra X-ray Visionary Program observations of this diffuse emission by computing the X-ray emission fro…
The Galactic centre is a hotbed of astrophysical activity, with the injection of wind material from $\sim$30 massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars orbiting within 12" of the super-massive black hole (SMBH) playing an important role. Hydrodynamic simulations of such colliding and accreting winds produce a complex density and temperature structure of cold wind material shocking with the ambient medium, creating a large reservoir of hot, X-ray-emitting gas. This work aims to confront the 3Ms of Chandra X-ray Visionary Program (XVP) observations of this diffuse emission by computing the X-ray emission fro…
Particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries (PACWBs) are multiple systems made of early-type stars able to accelerate particles up to relativistic velocities. The relativistic particles can interact with different fields (magnetic or radiation) in the colliding-wind region and produce non-thermal emission. In many cases, non-thermal synchrotron radiation might be observable and thus constitute an indicator of the existence of a relativistic particle population in these multiple systems. To date, the catalogue of PACWBs includes about 40 objects spread over many stellar types and evolutionary…
We modelled the Chandra and RXTE X-ray spectra of the massive binary WR 140 in the framework of the standard colliding stellar wind (CSW) picture. Models with partial electron heating at the shock fronts are a better representation of the X-ray data than those with complete temperature equalization. Emission measure of the X-ray plasma in the CSW region exhibits a considerable decrease at orbital phases near periastron. This is equivalent to variable effective mass-loss rates over the binary orbit. At orbital phases near periastron, a considerable X-ray absorption in excess to that from the st…
Massive stars in binary systems (as WR140, WR147 or $η$ Carinae) have long been regarded as potential sources of high-energy $γ$-rays. The emission is thought to arise in the region where the stellar winds collide and produce relativistic particles which subsequently might be able to emit $γ$-rays. Detailed numerical hydrodynamic simulations have already offered insight in the complex dynamics of the wind collision region (WCR), while independent analytical studies, albeit with simplified descriptions of the WCR, have shed light on the spectra of charged particles. In this paper, we describe a…
Context. Particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries (PACWBs) are systems that are formed by two massive and hot stars and produce nonthermal (NT) radiation. The key elements of these systems are fast winds and the shocks that they create when they collide. Binaries with nonaccreting young pulsars have also been detected as NT emitters, again as a consequence of the wind-wind interaction. Black holes (BHs) might produce NT radiation by this mechanism if they accrete at super-Eddington rates. In such cases, the disk is expected to launch a radiation-driven wind, and if this wind has an equato…
We present a model for the creation of non-thermal particles via diffusive shock acceleration in a colliding-wind binary. Our model accounts for the oblique nature of the global shocks bounding the wind-wind collision region and the finite velocity of the scattering centres to the gas. It also includes magnetic field amplification by the cosmic ray induced streaming instability and the dynamical back reaction of the amplified field. We assume that the injection of the ions and electrons is independent of the shock obliquity and that the scattering centres move relative to the fluid at the Alfv…
We compute the thermal X-ray emission from hydrodynamic simulations of the 30 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars orbiting within a parsec of Sgr A$^*$, with the aim of interpreting the Chandra X-ray observations of this region. The model well reproduces the spectral shape of the observations, indicating that the shocked WR winds are the dominant source of this thermal emission. The model X-ray flux is tied to the strength of the Sgr A$^*$ outflow, which clears out hot gas from the vicinity of Sgr A$^*$. A moderate outflow best fits the present-day observations, even though this supermassive black hole (SMB…
WR 125 is considered as a Colliding Wind Wolf-rayet Binary (CWWB), from which the most recent infrared flux increase was reported between 1990 and 1993. We observed the object four times from November 2016 to May 2017 with Swift and XMM-Newton, and carried out a precise X-ray spectral study for the first time. There were hardly any changes of the fluxes and spectral shapes for half a year, and the absorption-corrected luminosity was 3.0e+33 erg/s in the 0.5 - 10.0 keV range at a distance of 4.1 kpc. The hydrogen column density was higher than that expected from the interstellar absorption, thu…
Massive stars play an important role in explaining the cosmic ray spectrum below the knee, possibly even up to the ankle, i.e. up to energies of 1e15 eV or 1e18.5 eV, respectively. In particular, Supernova Remnants are discussed as one of the main candidates to explain the cosmic ray spectrum. Even before their violent deaths, during the stars' regular life times, cosmic rays can be accelerated in wind environments. High-energy gamma-ray measurements indicate hadronic acceleration binary systems, leading to both periodic gamma-ray emission from binaries like LSI+60~303 and continuous emission …
We investigate the structure and X-ray emission from the colliding stellar winds in massive star binaries. We find that the opening angle of the contact discontinuity (CD) is overestimated by several formulae in the literature at very small values of the wind momentum ratio. We find also that the shocks in the primary (dominant) and secondary winds flare by approx 20 degrees compared to the CD, and that the entire secondary wind is shocked when the wind momentum ratio < 0.02. Analytical expressions for the opening angles of the shocks, and the fraction of each wind that is shocked, are provide…
Colliding Wolf-Rayet (WR) winds produce thermal X-ray emission widely observed by X-ray telescopes. In wide WR+O binaries, such as WR 140, the X-ray flux is tied to the orbital phase, and is a direct probe of the winds' properties. In the Galactic center, $\sim$30 WRs orbit the super massive black hole (SMBH) within $\sim$10", leading to a smorgasbord of wind-wind collisions. To model the X-ray emission of WR 140 and the Galactic center, we perform 3D hydrodynamic simulations to trace the complex gaseous flows, and then carry out 3D radiative transfer calculations to compute the variable X-ray…
We have analysed the X-ray emission from a sample of close WR+O binaries using data from the public Chandra and XMM-Newton archives. Global spectral fits show that two-temperature plasma is needed to match the X-ray emission from these objects as the hot component (kT > 2 keV) is an important ingredient of the spectral models. In close WR+O binaries, X-rays likely originate in colliding stellar wind (CSW) shocks driven by the massive winds of the binary components. CSW shocks in these objects are expected to be radiative due to the high density of the plasma in the interaction region. Opposite…
We present results of new Chandra High-Energy Transmission Grating (HETG) observations (2019 November - December) of the massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) binary WR 48a. Analysis of these high-quality data showed that the spectral lines in this massive binary are broadened (FWHM = 1400 km/s) and marginally blushifted (~ -100 km/s). A direct modelling of these high-resolution spectra in the framework of the standard colliding stellar wind (CSW) picture provided a very good correspondence between the shape of the theoretical and observed spectra. Also, the theoretical line profiles are in most cases an ac…
This brief review describes radio observations of colliding winds in massive stars starting with the first direct observational support for the colliding-wind model advanced in the early 1990's to explain non-thermal radio and thermal X-ray emission in some massive stars. Studies of the well-studied and highly-eccentric WR+O star system WR140 are described along with recent observations of O-star systems. Also discussed is the binary nature of almost all massive stars that exhibit non-thermal behavior and some strategies for finding new systems.
The dynamics of colliding wind binary systems and conditions for efficient particle acceleration therein have attracted multiple numerical studies in the recent years. These numerical models seek an explanation of the thermal and non-thermal emission of these systems as seen by observations. In the non-thermal regime, radio and X-ray emission is observed for several of these colliding-wind binaries, while gamma-ray emission has so far only been found in $η$ Carinae and possibly in WR 11. Energetic electrons are deemed responsible for a large fraction of the observed high-energy photons in thes…
In addition to gamma-ray binaries which contain a compact object, high-energy and very high-energy gamma rays have also been detected from colliding-wind binaries. The collision of the winds produces two strong shock fronts, one for each wind, both surrounding a shock region of compressed and heated plasma, where particles are accelerated to very high energies. Magnetic field is also amplified in the shocked region on which the acceleration of particles greatly depends. In this work, we performed full three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of colliding winds coupled to a code that e…
The interaction between the strong winds in stellar colliding-wind binary (CWB) systems produces two shock fronts, delimiting the wind collision region (WCR). There, particles are expected to be accelerated mainly via diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). We investigate the injection and the acceleration of protons in typical CWB systems by means of Monte Carlo simulations, with both a test-particle approach and a non-linear method modelling a shock locally modified by the backreaction of the accelerated protons. We use magnetohydrodynamic simulations to determine the background plasma in the WC…
We have compiled a list of 36 O+O and 89 Wolf-Rayet binary candidates in the Milky Way and Magellanic clouds detected with the Chandra, XMM-Newton and ROSAT satellites to probe the connection between their X-ray properties and their system characteristics. Of the WR binaries with published parameters, all but two have kT > 0.9 keV. The most X-ray luminous WR binaries are typically very long period systems. The WR binaries show a nearly four-order of magnitude spread in X-ray luminosity, even among among systems with very similar WR primaries. Among the O+O binaries, short-period systems genera…
The $η$ Carinae binary system is the first $γ$-ray binary ever observed which does not contain a compact object. The dense wind of the primary star shocks against the fast light wind coming from the companion star, creating the conditions to accelerate particles up to relativistic energies via Fermi mechanisms. These relativistic particles subsequently dissipates non-thermal radiation. Fermi-LAT and H.E.S.S. detection of $η$ Carinae confirm such hypotheses. Hydrodynamic simulations provide a convincing match to the observations if a few percent of the wind mechanical energy dissipated in the s…
We investigated the long-term behaviour in X-rays of the colliding wind binary WR 25, using archival data obtained with Suzaku, Swift, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR spanning over ~16 years. Our analysis reveals phase-locked variations repeating consistently over many consecutive orbits, in agreement with an X-ray emission fully explained by thermal emission from the colliding winds in the 208-d orbit. We report on a significant deviation of the X-ray flux with respect to the 1/D trend (expected for adiabatic shocked winds) close to periastron passage. The absence of a drop in post-shock plasma temper…
We present a model for the non-thermal emission from a colliding-wind binary. Relativistic protons and electrons are assumed to be accelerated through diffusive shock acceleration (DSA) at the global shocks bounding the wind-wind collision region. The non-linear effects of the back-reaction due to the cosmic ray pressure on the particle acceleration process and the cooling of the non-thermal particles as they flow downstream from the shocks are included. We explore how the non-thermal particle distribution and the keV-GeV emission changes with the stellar separation and the viewing angle of th…
Massive systems made of two or more stars are known to be the site for interesting physical processes -- including at least in some cases -- particle acceleration. Over the past decade, this topic motivated a particular effort to unveil the properties of these systems and characterize the circumstances responsible for the acceleration of particles and the potential role of pre-supernova massive stars in the production of high energy particles in our Galaxy. Although previous studies on this topic were mostly devoted to processes in general, or to a few individual objects in particular, a unifi…
We present the detection of the first candidate colliding-wind binary (CWB) in M33, located in the giant H II region NGC 604. The source was first identified in archival {\it Chandra} imaging as a relatively soft X-ray point source, with the likely primary star determined from precise astrometric alignment between archival {\it Hubble Space Telescope} and {\it Chandra} imaging. The candidate primary star in the CWB is classified for the first time in this work as a carbon-rich Wolf-Rayet star with a likely O star companion based on spectroscopy obtained from Gemini-North. We model the X-ray sp…
Gamma-ray binaries emit most of their radiated power beyond ~10 MeV. The non-thermal emission is thought to arise from the interaction of the relativistic wind of a rotation-powered pulsar with the stellar wind of its massive (O or Be) companion star. A powerful pulsar creates an extended cavity, filled with relativistic electrons, in the radiatively-driven wind of the massive star. As a result, the observed P Cyg profiles of UV resonant lines from the stellar wind should be different from those of single massive stars. We propose to use UV emission lines to detect and constrain the colliding …
Three dimensional (3D) adaptive-mesh refinement (AMR) hydrodynamical simulations of the wind-wind collision between the enigmatic super-massive star \etacar and its mysterious companion star are presented which include radiative driving of the stellar winds, gravity, optically-thin radiative cooling, and orbital motion. Simulations with static stars with a periastron passage separation reveal that the preshock companion star's wind speed is sufficiently reduced that radiative cooling in the postshock gas becomes important, permitting the runaway growth of non-linear thin shell (NTSI) instabili…
Gamma-ray binaries are systems that emit non-thermal radiation peaking at energies above 1 MeV. One proposed scenario to explain their emission consists of a pulsar orbiting a massive star, with particle acceleration taking place in shocks produced by the interaction of the stellar and pulsar winds. We develop a semi-analytical model of the non-thermal emission of the colliding-wind structure including the dynamical effects of orbital motion. We apply the model to a general case and to LS 5039. The model consists of a one-dimensional emitter the geometry of which is affected by Coriolis forces…
When a core-collapse supernova explodes in a binary star system, the ejecta might encounter an overdense shell, where the stellar winds of the two stars previously collided. In this work, we investigate effects of such interactions on supernova light curves on time-scales from the early flash ionization signatures to approximately one year after the explosion. We construct a model of the colliding-wind shell in an orbiting binary star system and we provide an analytical expression for the shell thickness and density, which we calibrate with three-dimensional adaptive mesh refinement hydrodynam…
A small cluster of massive stars residing in the Galactic center, collectively known as IRS13E, is of special interest due to its close proximity to Sgr A* and the possibility that an embedded intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) binds its member stars. It has been suggested that colliding winds from two member stars, both classified as Wolf-Rayet type, are responsible for the observed X-ray, infrared and radio emission from IRS13E. We have conducted an in-depth study of the X-ray spatial, temporal and spectral properties of IRS13E, based on 5.6 Ms of ultra-deep Chandra observations obtained ov…
Binary systems that host a massive star and a non-accreting pulsar can be powerful non-thermal emitters. The relativistic pulsar wind and the non-relativistic stellar outflows interact along the orbit, producing ultrarelativistic particles that radiate from radio to gamma rays. To properly characterize the physics of these sources, and better understand their emission and impact on the environment, careful modelling of the outflow interactions, spanning a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, is needed. Full 3-dimensional approaches are very computationally expensive, but simpler approxi…
The X-ray emission from the massive binary WR 146R is analysed in the framework of the colliding stellar wind (CSW) picture. The theoretical CSW model spectra match well the shape of the observed X-ray spectrum of WR 146R but they overestimate considerably the observed X-ray flux (emission measure). This is valid both in the case of complete temperature equalization and in the case of partial electron heating at the shock fronts (different electron and ion temperatures), but, there are indications for a better correspondence between model predictions and observations for the latter. To reconci…
WR 25 is a colliding-wind binary star system comprised of a very massive O2.5If*/WN6 primary and an O-star secondary in a 208-day period eccentric orbit. These hot stars have strong, highly-supersonic winds which interact to form a bright X-ray source from wind-collision-shocks whose conditions change with stellar separation. Different views through the WR and O star winds are afforded with orbital phase as the stars move about their orbits, allowing for exploration of wind structure in ways not easy or even possible for single stars. We have analyzed an on-axis Chandra/HETGS spectrum of WR 25…
We carry out a numerical experiment of ejecting winds in a massive colliding wind binary system, and quantifying the accretion onto the secondary star under different primary mass loss rates. We set a binary system comprising a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) as the primary and a Wolf-Rayet (WR) star as the secondary, and vary the mass loss rate of the LBV to obtain different values of wind momentum ratio $η$. Our simulations include two sets of cases: one where the stars are stationary, and one that includes the orbital motion. As $η$ decreases the colliding wind structure moves closer to the se…
In colliding-wind binaries, shocks accelerate a fraction of the electrons up to relativistic speeds. These electrons then emit synchrotron radiation at radio wavelengths. Whether or not we detect this radiation depends on the size of the free-free absorption region in the stellar winds of both components. One expects long-period binaries to be detectable, but not the short-period ones. It was therefore surprising to find that Cyg OB2 No. 8A (P = 21.9 d) does show variability locked with orbital phase. To investigate this, we developed a model for the relativistic electron generation (including…
Colliding wind binaries (CWBs) are unique laboratories for X-ray astrophysics. The massive stars in these systems possess powerful stellar winds with speeds up to $\sim$3000 km s$^{-1}$, and their collision leads to hot plasma (up to $\sim10^8$K) that emit thermal X-rays (up to $\sim$10 keV). Many X-ray telescopes have observed CWBs, including Suzaku, and our work aims to model these X-ray observations. We use 3D smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) to model the wind-wind interaction, and then perform 3D radiative transfer to compute the emergent X-ray flux, which is folded through X-ray tele…
Massive stars in binary systems have long been regarded as potential sources of high-energy gamma rays.The emission is principally thought to arise in the region where the stellar winds collide and accelerate relativistic particles which ubsequently emit gamma rays. On the basis of a three-dimensional distribution function of high-energy particles in the wind collision region - as obtained by a numerical hydrodynamics and particle transport model - we present the computation of the three-dimensional nonthermal photon emission for a given line of sight. Anisotropic inverse Compton emission is m…
We model the diffusive shock acceleration of particles in a system of two colliding shock waves and present a method to solve the time-dependent problem analytically in the test-particle approximation and high energy limit. In particular, we show that in this limit the problem can be analysed with the help of a self-similar solution. While a number of recent works predict hard ($E^{-1}$) spectra for the accelerated particles in the stationary limit, or the appearance of spectral breaks, we found instead that the spectrum of accelerated particles in a time-dependent collision follows quite clos…
Context: Colliding wind binaries (CWBs) are thought to give rise to a plethora of physical processes including acceleration and interaction of relativistic particles. Observation of synchrotron radiation in the radio band confirms there is a relativistic electron population in CWBs. Accordingly, CWBs have been suspected sources of high-energy gamma-ray emission since the COS-B era. Theoretical models exist that characterize the underlying physical processes leading to particle acceleration and quantitatively predict the non-thermal energy emission observable at Earth. Aims: We strive to find e…
The colliding winds in a massive binary system generate synchrotron emission due to a fraction of electrons that have been accelerated to relativistic speeds around the shocks in the colliding-wind region. We studied the radio light curve of 9 Sgr = HD 164794, a massive O-type binary with a 9.1-yr period. We investigated whether the radio emission varies consistently with orbital phase and we determined some parameters of the colliding-wind region. We reduced a large set of archive data from the Very Large Array (VLA) to determine the radio light curve of 9 Sgr at 2, 3.6, 6 and 20 cm. We also …
The X-ray emission from the super-massive star Eta Carinae is simulated using a three dimensional model of the wind-wind collision. In the model the intrinsic X-ray emission is spatially extended and energy dependent. Absorption due to the unshocked stellar winds and the cooled postshock material from the primary LBV star is calculated as the intrinsic emission is ray-traced along multiple sightlines through the 3D spiral structure of the circumstellar environment. The observable emission is then compared to available X-ray data, including the lightcurve observed by the Rossi X-ray Timing Expl…
Eta Carinae shows broad peaks in near-infrared (IR) JHKL photometry, roughly correlated with times of periastron passage in the eccentric binary system. After correcting for secular changes attributed to reduced extinction from the thinning Homunculus Nebula, these peaks have IR spectral energy distributions (SEDs) consistent with emission from hot dust at 1400-1700 K. The excess SEDs are clearly inconsistent, however, with the excess being entirely due to free-free wind or photospheric emission. One must conclude, therefore, that the broad near-IR peaks associated with Eta Carinae's 5.5 yr va…
Colliding wind binaries (CWBs) have been considered as a possible high energy $γ$-ray sources for some time, however no system other than $η$ Car has been detected. In the paper a sample of seven CWBs (WR 11, WR 70, WR 137, WR 140, WR 146, WR 147) which, by means of theoretic modelling, were deemed most promising candidates, was analyzed using almost 7 years of the Fermi-LAT data. WR 11 ($γ^2$ Vel) was detected at 6.1$σ$ confidence level with a photon flux in 0.1-100 GeV range $(1.8\pm0.6)\times10^{-9}~\mathrm{ph~cm^{-2}~s^{-1}}$ and an energy flux $(2.7\pm0.5)\times10^{-12}~~\mathrm{erg~cm^{-…
Powerful stellar winds and supernova explosions with intense energy release in the form of strong shock waves can convert a sizeable part of the kinetic energy release into energetic particles. The starforming regions are argued as a favorable site of energetic particle acceleration and could be efficient sources of nonthermal emission. We present here a non-linear time-dependent model of particle acceleration in the vicinity of two closely approaching fast magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) shocks. Such MHD flows are expected to occur in rich young stellar cluster where a supernova is exploding in the…
Non-thermal emission has been detected in WR-stars for many years at long wavelengths spectral range, in general attributed to synchrotron emission. Two key ingredients are needed to explain such emissions, namely magnetic fields and relativistic particles. Particles can be accelerated to relativistic speeds by Fermi processes at strong shocks. Therefore, strong synchrotron emission is usually attributed to WR binarity. The magnetic field may also be amplified at shocks, however the actual picture of the magnetic field geometry, intensity, and its role on the acceleration of particles at WR bi…
WR 20a is the most massive close-in binary known in our Galaxy. It is composed of two $\approx$80 M$_\odot$ Wolf-Rayet stars with a short period of $\approx$3.7 days in the open cluster Westerlund 2. As such, WR 20a presents us with a unique laboratory for studying the currently uncertain physics of binary evolution and compact object formation as well as for studying the wind collision region in an massive eclipsing binary system. We use deep Chandra observations of WR 20a to study the time variability of the wind collision region between the two Wolf-Rayet stars and are able to produce an X-…
