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.

arXiv commentmanuscript draft. The revised paper is published in Nature Communications

References in corpus (31)

• The chemical composition of the Sun
• Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction
• The European Photon Imaging Camera on XMM-Newton: The MOS Cameras
• Collisional Plasma Models with APEC/APED: Emission Line Diagnostics of Hydrogen-like and Helium-like Ions
• Dynamical Simulations of Magnetically Channeled Line-Driven Stellar Winds: I. Isothermal, Nonrotating, Radially Driven Flow
• Discovery of Rapid X-ray Oscillations in the Tail of the SGR 1806-20 Hyperflare
• Discovery of Fast X-ray Oscillations During the 1998 Giant Flare from SGR 1900+14
• A Magnetic Confinement vs. Rotation Classification of Massive-Star Magnetospheres
• Dynamical Simulations of Magnetically Channeled Line-Driven Stellar Winds: III. Angular Momentum Loss and Rotational Spindown
• Line ratios for Helium-like ions: Applications to collision-dominated plasmas
• The X-ray Spectrum of the Vela Pulsar Resolved with Chandra
• The 2004 Hyperflare from SGR 1806-20: Further Evidence for Global Torsional Vibrations
• Detection with RHESSI of high frequency X-ray oscillations in the tail of the 2004 hyperflare from SGR 1806-20
• Abundance analysis of prime B-type targets for asteroseismology I. Nitrogen excess in slowly-rotating beta Cephei stars
• Discovery of magnetic fields in the beta Cephei star xi^1 CMa and in several Slowly Pulsating B stars
• High resolution X-ray spectroscopy of bright O type stars
• Nitrogen enrichment, boron depletion and magnetic fields in slowly-rotating B-type dwarfs
• Early magnetic B-type stars: X-ray emission and wind properties
• On the Enhancement of Mass Loss in Cepheids Due to Radial Pulsation
• Spectroscopic determination of the fundamental parameters of 66 B-type stars in the field-of-view of the CoRoT satellite
• New findings on the prototypical Of?p stars
• Suzaku Discovery of Hard X-ray Pulsations from the Rotating Magnetized White Dwarf, AE Aquarii
• E(B-V), N(H I) and N(H_2)
• A detailed X-ray investigation of zeta Puppis - The variability on short and long timescales
• Magnetic field measurements and wind-line variability of OB-type stars
• First magnetic field models for recently discovered magnetic beta Cephei and slowly pulsating B stars
• Testing magnetically confined wind shock models for Beta Cep using XMM-Newton and Chandra phase-resolved X-ray observations
• First HARPSpol discoveries of magnetic fields in massive stars
• The XMM-Newton EPIC X-ray Light Curve Analysis of WR 6
• The incidence of magnetic fields in massive stars: An overview of the MiMeS Survey Component
• Protodiscs around Hot Magnetic Rotator Stars

Cited by in corpus (22)

• B fields in OB stars (BOB): Concluding the FORS2 observing campaign
• Massive pulsating stars observed by BRITE-Constellation. I. The triple system Beta Centauri (Agena)
• Simultaneous X-ray and optical spectroscopy of the Oef supergiant lambda Cep
• 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
• B fields in OB stars (BOB): on the detection of weak magnetic fields in the two early B-type stars beta CMa and epsilon CMa
• 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
• A Coordinated X-ray and Optical Campaign of the Nearby Massive Binary $\delta$ Orionis Aa: II. X-ray Variability
• Variations on a theme -- the puzzling behaviour of Schulte 12
• On X-ray pulsations in beta Cephei-type variables
• Period change and stellar evolution of $\beta$ Cephei stars
• The pulsationally modulated radial crossover signature of the slowly rotating magnetic B-type star ${\xi }^1$ CMa
• X-ray emission of massive stars and their winds
• Confirmation of xi^1 CMa's ultra-slow rotation: magnetic polarity reversal and a dramatic change in magnetospheric UV emission lines
• B stars seen at high resolution by XMM-Newton
• The early B-type star Rho Oph A is an X-ray lighthouse
• Detection of anomalous element distribution in the extremely slowly rotating magnetic O9.7 V star HD 54879
• X-ray diagnostics of massive star winds
• Perspectives for observing hot massive stars with XMM-Newton in the years 2017 -- 2027