A new type of X-ray pulsar

Abstract

X-ray emission from stars much more massive than the Sun was discovered only 35 years ago. Such stars drive fast stellar winds where shocks can develop, and it is commonly assumed that the X-rays emerge from the shock-heated plasma. Many massive stars additionally pulsate. However, hitherto it was neither theoretically predicted nor observed that these pulsations would affect their X-ray emission. Here we report the discovery of pulsating X-rays from the massive B-type star Xi1 Canis Majoris. This star is a variable of beta Cephei type and has a strong magnetic field. Our observations with the XMM-Newton telescope reveal X-ray pulsations with the same period as the fundamental stellar pulsation. This discovery challenges our understanding of stellar winds from massive stars, their X-ray emission, and their magnetism.

manuscript draft. The revised paper is published in Nature Communications

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Cited by in corpus (10)

• B fields in OB stars (BOB): Concluding the FORS2 observing campaign
• The detection of variable radio emission from the fast rotating magnetic hot B-star HR7355 and evidence for its X-ray aurorae
• The Secret Lives of Cepheids: $\delta$ Cep -- the Prototype of a New Class of Pulsating X-ray Variable Stars
• Characterizing the turbulent porosity of stellar-wind structure generated by the line-deshadowing instability
• The pulsating magnetosphere of the extremely slowly rotating magnetic $\beta$ Cep star ${\xi }^1$ CMa
• High-Energy Properties of the Enigmatic Be Star gamma Cassiopeiae
• X-ray diagnostics of massive star winds
• On X-ray pulsations in beta Cephei-type variables
• Confirmation of xi^1 CMa's ultra-slow rotation: magnetic polarity reversal and a dramatic change in magnetospheric UV emission lines
• Detection of anomalous element distribution in the extremely slowly rotating magnetic O9.7 V star HD 54879