Non-thermal radiation from a runaway massive star

We present a study of the radio emission from a massive runaway star. The star forms a bow shock that is clearly observed in the infrared. We have performed VLA observations under the assumption that the reverse shock in the stellar wind might accelerate charged particles up to relativistic energies...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Romero, Gustavo Esteban, Benaglia, Paula, Peri, Cintia Soledad, Martí, Josep, Araudo, Anabella Teresa
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2011
Country:Argentina
Institution:Universidad Nacional de La Plata
Repository:SEDICI (UNLP)
Language:English
OAI Identifier:oai:sedici.unlp.edu.ar:10915/99537
Online Access:http://sedici.unlp.edu.ar/handle/10915/99537
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Ciencias Astronómicas
Early-type stars
Cherenkov telescope array
Description
Summary:We present a study of the radio emission from a massive runaway star. The star forms a bow shock that is clearly observed in the infrared. We have performed VLA observations under the assumption that the reverse shock in the stellar wind might accelerate charged particles up to relativistic energies. Non-thermal radio emission of synchrotron origin has been detected, confirming the hypothesis. We have then modeled the system and we predict a spectral energy distribution that extends up to gamma-rays. Under some simplifying assumptions, we find that the intensity at high energies is too low to be detected by current instruments, but the future Cherenkov Telescope Array might detect the source.