Modeling non-thermal emission from stellar bow shocks

Abstract

Runaway O- and early B-type stars passing throughout the interstellar medium at supersonic velocities and characterized by strong stellar winds may produce bow shocks that can serve as particle acceleration sites. Previous theoretical models predict the production of high energy photons by non-thermal radiative processes, but their efficiency is still debated. We aim to test and explain the possibility of emission from the bow shocks formed by runaway stars traveling through the interstellar medium by using previous theoretical models. We apply our model to AE Aurigae, the first reported star with an X-ray detected bow shock, to BD+43 3654, in which the observations failed in detecting high energy emission, and to the transition phase of a supergiant star in the late stages of its life.From our analysis, we confirm that the X-ray emission from the bow shock produced by AE Aurigae can be explained by inverse Compton processes involving the infrared photons of the heated dust. We also predict low high energy flux emission from the bow shock produced by BD+43 3654, and the possibility of high energy emission from the bow shock formed by a supergiant star during the transition phase from blue to red supergiant.Bow shock formed by different type of runaway stars are revealed as a new possible source of high energy photons in our neighbourhood.

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Cited by in corpus (9)

• The physical and chemical structure of Sagittarius B2 -- V. Non-thermal emission in the envelope of Sgr B2
• On the Absence of Non-thermal X-ray emission around Runaway O stars
• Non-thermal emission from stellar bow shocks
• Multi-zone non-thermal radiative model for stellar bowshocks
• Systematic search for very-high-energy gamma-ray emission from bow shocks of runaway stars
• Searching for Faint X-ray Emission from Galactic Stellar Wind Bow Shocks
• Runaway O-star Bow Shocks as Particle Accelerators? The Case of AE Aur revisited
• Observations of Bow Shocks of Runaway Stars with H.E.S.S
• Radio polarization from runaway star bowshocks-I. The general case