DOI

  • S. Hubrig
  • L. Sidoli
  • K. Postnov
  • M. Schöller
  • A. F. Kholtygin
  • S. P. Järvinen
  • P. Steinbrunner

Asignificant fraction of high-mass X-ray binaries are supergiant fast X-ray transients (SFXTs). The prime model for the physics governing their X-ray behaviour suggests that the winds of donor OB supergiants are magnetized. To investigate if magnetic fields are indeed present in the optical counterparts of such systems, we acquired low-resolution spectropolarimetric observations of the two optically brightest SFXTs, IGRJ08408-4503 and IGR J11215-5952, with the ESO FORS 2 instrument during two different observing runs. No field detection at a significance level of 3σ was achieved for IGRJ08408-4503. For IGRJ11215-5952, we obtain 3.2σ and 3.8σ detections (〈Bzhydr = -978 ± 308G and 〈Bzhydr = 416 ± 110 G) on two different nights in 2016. These results indicate that the model involving the interaction of a magnetized stellar wind with the neutron star magnetosphere can indeed be considered to characterize the behaviour of SFXTs. We detected long-term spectral variability in IGR J11215-5952, whereas for IGRJ08408-4503, we find an indication of the presence of short-term variability on a time-scale of minutes.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)L27-L31
Number of pages5
JournalMonthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters
Volume474
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Feb 2018

    Research areas

  • Binaries: general, Magnetic fields, Stars: individual: IGRJ08408-4503, Stars: individual: IGRJ11215-5952, Supergiants, X-rays: stars, stars: individual: IGRJ08408-4503, IGR J11215-5952, magnetic fields, BINARIES, binaries: general, supergiants, STELLAR WINDS, ROAP STARS, stars: individual: IGRJ11215-5952, FORS-1, VLT

    Scopus subject areas

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Space and Planetary Science

ID: 27739546