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X-Ray modeling of η Carinae & WR 140 from SPH simulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 July 2011

Christopher M. P. Russell
Affiliation:
Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; email: [email protected]
Michael F. Corcoran
Affiliation:
GSFC/NASA, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Atsuo T. Okazaki
Affiliation:
Hokkai-Gakuen Univ., Sapporo, Japan
Thomas I. Madura
Affiliation:
Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; email: [email protected]
Stanley P. Owocki
Affiliation:
Univ. of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The colliding wind binary (CWB) systems η Carinae and WR140 provide unique laboratories for X-ray astrophysics. Their wind-wind collisions produce hard X-rays that have been monitored extensively by several X-ray telescopes, including RXTE. To interpret these RXTE X-ray light curves, we apply 3D hydrodynamic simulations of the wind-wind collision using smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH). We find adiabatic simulations that account for the absorption of X-rays from an assumed point source of X-ray emission at the apex of the wind-collision shock cone can closely match the RXTE light curves of both η Car and WR140. This point-source model can also explain the early recovery of η Car's X-ray light curve from the 2009.0 minimum by a factor of 2-4 reduction in the mass loss rate of η Car. Our more recent models account for the extended emission and absorption along the full wind-wind interaction shock front. For WR140, the computed X-ray light curves again match the RXTE observations quite well. But for η Car, a hot, post-periastron bubble leads to an emission level that does not match the extended X-ray minimum observed by RXTE. Initial results from incorporating radiative cooling and radiative forces via an anti-gravity approach into the SPH code are also discussed.

Type
Contributed Papers
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

References

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