A Multiwavelength View of rho Oph I: Resolving the X-ray Source Between A and B

arXiv:2509.26268 · astro-ph.SR, astro-ph.HE · Submitted 2026-08-16 · Read on arXiv

Sean J. Gunderson, Jackson Codd, Walter W. Golay, David P. Huenemoerder, John M. Cannon, J. Alex Fluegel, Philip E. Griffin, Nathalie C. Haurberg, Richard Ignace, Alexandrea Moreno, Pragati Pradhan, Alexis Riggs, James Wetzel, Claude R. Canizares, the MACRO consortium

astro-ph.SR, astro-ph.HE

Submitted: 2026-08-16

Updated: 2026-08-18

Comments: Accepted for publication in ApJ, 5 figures, 5 tables

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The gist: We present a multiwavelength analysis of the central stellar pair of rho Oph, components A and B.

Terminology

Reheating — 11× in this paper · explained in 2 episodes
Abundance — 10× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Accuracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 1 episode
Calibration — 1× in this paper · explained in 7 episodes
Chandra Data Collection — 1× in this paper
Chandra X-Ray Center — 1× in this paper
Degeneracy — 1× in this paper · explained in 3 episodes
Jansky Very Large Array — 1× in this paper
Medium Energy Grating — 1× in this paper
Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory — 1× in this paper
World Coordinate System — 1× in this paper
XMM Metal Oxide Semiconductor — 1× in this paper
XMM Reflection Grating Spectrometer — 1× in this paper

Abstract

We present a multiwavelength analysis of the central stellar pair of rho Oph, components A and B. Using recent high-resolution Chandra X-ray Observatory observations, we demonstrate with high confidence that the dominant X-ray source is rho Oph B, while rho Oph A is comparatively X-ray faint. This result contrasts with earlier XMM-Newton observations, which, due to limited spatial resolutions, attributed the X-ray emission to rho Oph A. An analysis of rho Oph B's X-ray light curves and spectra reveals properties more consistent with a cool star than a hot star. We therefore propose that rho Oph B is an Algol-like binary system, consisting of a B-type primary and an active, X-ray-emitting GK-type companion.

Sources

X-ray Emission from Isolated Be Stars

Terminology

Abstract

Sources

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