Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Gamma rays from colliding winds in massive binaries

Status and prospects

  • A decade of AGILE
  • Published:
Rendiconti Lincei. Scienze Fisiche e Naturali Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

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 of an O2 If* star (the primary) and an O3.5 V star (the secondary). The primary is among the earliest, hottest, most massive, luminous, and windy O stars in the Galaxy. The periastron passage during 2018 will offer an outstanding observational window that will be exploited by an international multi-wavelength campaign.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Fermi, being an instrument for surveys, is perhaps not the best option for tracking this event.

References

  • Balbo M, Walter R (2017) Fermi acceleration along the orbit of \(\eta \) Carinae. A&A 603:A111

  • Benaglia P, Koribalski B, Albacete Colombo JF (2006) Radio detection of colliding wind binaries. PASA 23:50–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benaglia P, Marcote B, Moldón J et al (2015) A radio map of the colliding winds in the very massive binary system HD93129A. A&A 579:A99

  • Benaglia P (2016) Is the stellar system WR 11 a gamma-ray source? Publ Astron Soc Austr 33:id.e017

  • Benaglia P, Romero GE (2003) Gamma-ray emission from Wolf–Rayet binaries. A&A 399:1121–1134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bykov AM (2014) Nonthermal particles and photons in starburst regions and superbubbles. A&ARv 22:id.77

  • De Becker M (2007) Non-thermal emission processes in massive binaries. A&ARv 14:171–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Becker M, Raucq F (2013) Catalogue of particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries. A&A 558:A28

  • De Becker M, Benaglia P, Romero GE, Peri CS (2017) An investigation into the fraction of particle accelerators among colliding-wind binaries: Towards an extension of the catalogue. A&A 600:A47

  • del Palacio S, Bosch-Ramon V, Romero GE, Benaglia P (2016) A model for the non-thermal emission of the very massive colliding-wind binary HD 93129A. A&A 591:A139

  • Dougherty SM, Beasley AJ, Claussen MJ, Zauderer BA, Bolingbroke NJ (2005) High-resolution radio observations of the colliding-wind binary WR 140. ApJ 623:447–459

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Eichler D, Usov V (1993) Particle acceleration and nonthermal radio emission in binaries of early-type stars. ApJ 402:271–279

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pshirkov MS (2016) The Fermi-LAT view of the colliding wind binaries. MNRAS 457:L99–L102

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pittard JM, Dougherty SM (2006) Radio, X-ray, and -ray emission models of the colliding-wind binary WR140. MNRAS 372:801–826

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reimer A, Pohl M, Reimer O (2006) Nonthermal high-energy emission from colliding winds of massive stars. ApJ 644:1118–1144

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Reitberger K, Reimer O, Reimer A et al (2012) Gamma-ray follow-up studies on \(\eta \) Carinae. A&A 544:A98

  • Reitberger K, Kissmann R, Reimer A, Reimer O (2014) Simulating three-dimensional nonthermal high-energy photon emission in colliding-wind binaries. ApJ 789:id.87

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schure KM, Bell AR, O’C Drury L, Bykov AM (2012) Diffusive shock acceleration and magnetic field amplification. Space Sci Rev 173:491–519

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavani M, Sabatini S, Pian E et al (2009) Detection of gamma-ray emission from the Eta-Carinae region. ApJ 698:L142–L146

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

I thank S. del Palacio, V. Bosch Ramon, P. Benaglia, and M. De Becker for many discussions on this topic. My work was supported by the Helmholtz Association through a Helmholtz International Fellow Award. Additional support was provided by the Argentine agency CONICET (PIP 2014-00338) and the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO/FEDER, UE) under grant AYA2016-76012-C3-1-P.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía (IAR), Casilla de Correos No. 5, 1894, Villa Elisa, Provincia de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gustavo E. Romero

Authors
  1. Gustavo E. Romero
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gustavo E. Romero.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This paper is the peer-reviewed version of a contribution selected among those presented at the Conference on Gamma-Ray Astrophysics with the AGILE Satellite held at Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei and Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, Rome on December 11–13, 2017.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Romero, G.E. Gamma rays from colliding winds in massive binaries. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 30 (Suppl 1), 115–118 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-019-00763-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-019-00763-2

Keywords

Mathematics Subject Classification

Search

Navigation