2021/07/19 by C. Erba, V. Petit, Erba, C. +9
Physics and Astronomy · #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) #astro-ph.SR
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2107.09007
Proceedings article from IAUS 360 -- Astronomical Polarimetry 2020: New Era of Multiwavelength Polarimetry. 2 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2021/07/19 · arxiv updated 2021/07/20
Approximately 7% of massive stars host stable surface magnetic fields that are strong enough to alter stellar evolution through their effect on the stellar wind. It is therefore crucial to characterize the strength and structure of these large-scale fields in order to quantify their influence on massive star evolution. This is traditionally done by measuring the circular polarization caused by Zeeman splitting in optical photospheric lines, but we investigate here the possibility of detecting Stokes V signatures in the wind-sensitive resonance lines formed in magnetically confined winds in the high opacity ultraviolet (UV) domain. This unique diagnostic would be accessible to high-sensitivity spaceborne UV spectropolarimeters such as POLSTAR.