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Michaël De Becker

The multi-messenger approach to particle acceleration by massive stars: a science case for optical, radio and X-ray observatories

(Volume 87 - Année 2018 — Actes de colloques — First Belgo-Indian Network for Astronomy & Astrophysics (BINA) workshop - November 2016 - Nainital, India)
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Mots-clés : acceleration de particules, astronomie, astrophysique, étoiles massives, hautes énergies, radio

Abstract

Massive stars are extreme stellar objects whose properties allow for the study of some interesting physical processes, including particle acceleration up to relativistic velocities. In particular, the collisions of massive star winds in binary systems lead notably to acceleration of electrons involved in synchrotron emission, hence their identification as non-thermal radio emitters. This has been demonstrated for about 40 objects so far. The relativistic electrons are also expected to produce non-thermal high-energy radiation through inverse Compton scattering. This class of objects permits thus to investigate non-thermal physics through observations in the radio and high energy spectral domains. However, the binary nature of these sources introduces some stringent requirements to adequately interpret their behavior and model non-thermal processes. In particular, these objects are well-established variable stellar sources on the orbital time-scale. The stellar and orbital parameters need to be determined, and this is notably achieved through studies in the optical domain. The combination of observations in the visible domain (including e.g. 3.6-m DOT) with radio measurements using notably GMRT and X-ray observations constitutes thus a promising strategy to investigate particle-accelerating colliding-wind binaries in the forthcoming decade.

Keywords : astronomy, astrophysics, high energies, massive stars, particle acceleration, radio

To cite this article

Michaël De Becker, «The multi-messenger approach to particle acceleration by massive stars: a science case for optical, radio and X-ray observatories», Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège [En ligne], Volume 87 - Année 2018, Actes de colloques, First Belgo-Indian Network for Astronomy & Astrophysics (BINA) workshop - November 2016 - Nainital, India, 185 - 192 URL : https://popups.ulg.ac.be/0037-9565/index.php?id=7633.

About: Michaël De Becker

Space sciences, Technologies, and Astrophysics Research (STAR) institute, University of Liège, 19c allée du 6 Août, Quartier Agora, B-4000 Liège (Sart-Tilman), Belgium, debecker@astro.ulg.ac.be