Visible and infrared continuum spectropolarimetric observations of ten OB supergiant and O emission-line stars

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B Stars, Linear Polarization, O Stars, Polarimetry, Stellar Winds, Supergiant Stars, Data Acquisition, Equatorial Regions, H Alpha Line, Infrared Radiation

Scientific paper

Low-resolution spectropolarimetry (λλ 5000-7000) and infrared-filter polarimetry are presented for ten O and B supergiant stars. The sample contains both slow and rapid rotators, a range of spectral types, O6 to B2, and two known binary systems. The spectropolarimetric data were obtained over a period of three years and are part of a larger ongoing spectropolarimetric monitoring program using the Pine Bluff Observing Facility of Washburn Observatory. The infrared data were acquired over the course of two nights with the 1.3 m telescope of Kitt Peak National Observatory. Seven of the ten program stars exhibited random polarimetric fluctuations at the 0.2%-0.4% level on time scales of several days to months. With the exception of one of the binary stars, the observed position angles varied with time in a way that implies that the intrinsic position angle itself is time dependent. For five of the seven variable objects, the interstellar component dominated the observed polarization vector, making the interpretation difficult. In two of these cases, the intrinsic polarization and position angle were consistent with being wavelength independent. In two other cases, both these quantities were not only variable in time but exhibited a definite wavelength dependence, and the intrinsic contribution was probably as large as the interstellar contribution. For this small sample, polarization variations are large for slow rotators and objects with large Hα emission components. However, no detailed correlation of polarization variability with Hα variability or with spectral type is apparent. We present a sample interpretation in terms of electron scattering off blobs embedded in the stellar wind.

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