Articulo
Radio observations of HD 93129A: The earliest O star with the highest mass loss?
Autor
Benaglia, Paula
Koribalski, B.
Institución
Resumen
We present the results of radio continuum observations towards the open cluster Tr 14, where our main targets are the early-type O stars HD 93129A/B and HD 93128. The observations were carried out at 3 cm (8.64 GHz) and 6 cm (4.80 GHz) with the Australia Telescope Compact Array. Only HD 93129A (type O2 If*) was detected; we measure flux densities of S<SUB>3cm</SUB> = 2.0 ± 0.2 mJy and S<SUB>6cm</SUB> = 4.1 ± 0.4 mJy. The resulting spectral index of α = -1.2 ± 0.3 (S<SUB>v</SUB> ∝ v<SUP>α</SUP>) indicates predominantly non-thermal emission, suggesting HD 93129A may be a binary system. We propose that the observed 3 cm radio emission is mostly coming from the non-thermal wind collision region of a binary, and, to a lesser extent, from the thermal winds of the primary and secondary stars in HD 93129A. At a stellar distance of 2.8 kpc, we derive a mass-loss rate M = 5.1 × 10<SUP>-5</SUP> M⊙ yr<SUP>-1</SUP>, assuming the thermal fraction of the 3 cm emission is ∼0.5. Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas Instituto Argentino de Radioastronomía