@article {2013A\&A...554L...4S, title = {{Direct detection of the tertiary component in the massive multiple HD 150136 with VLTI}}, journal = {Astronomy and Astrophysics}, volume = {554}, year = {2013}, pages = {L4}, abstract = {Context. Massive stars are of fundamental importance for almost all aspects of astrophysics, but there still exist large gaps in our understanding of their properties and formation because they are rare and therefore distant. It has been found that most O-stars are multiples. It may well be that almost all massive stars are born as triples or higher multiples, but their large distances require milliarcsecond angular resolution for a direct detection of the companions.
Aims: HD 150136 is the nearest system to Earth with {\gt}100 M$_{\&sun;}$ and provides a unique opportunity to study an extremely massive system. Recently, evidence for the existence of a third component in HD 150136, in addition to the tight spectroscopic binary that forms the main component, was found in spectroscopic observations. Our aim was to image and obtain astrometric and photometric measurements of this component using long-baseline optical interferometry to further constrain the nature of this component.
Methods: We observed HD 150136 with the near-infrared instrument AMBER attached to the ESO VLT Interferometer, which provides an angular resolution of 2 mas. The recovered closure phases are robust to systematic errors and provide unique information on the source asymmetry. Therefore, they are of crucial relevance for both image reconstruction and model fitting of the source structure.
Results: The third component in HD 150136 is clearly detected in the high-quality data from AMBER. It is located at a projected angular distance of 7.3 mas, or about 13 AU at the line-of-sight distance of HD 150136, at a position angle of 209 degrees east of north, and has a flux ratio of 0.25 with respect to the inner binary. Our findings agree with previous results and have permitted us to improve the orbital solutions of the tertiary around the inner system.
Conclusions: We resolved the third component of HD 150136 in J, H and K filters. The luminosity and color of the tertiary agrees with the predictions and shows that it is also an O main-sequence star. The small measured angular separation indicates that the tertiary may be approaching the periastron of its orbit. These results, only achievable with long-baseline near-infrared interferometry, constitute the first step toward understanding the massive star formation mechanisms.}, keywords = {binaries: general, instrumentation: high angular resolution, instrumentation: interferometers, stars: massive}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/201321649}, url = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013A\%26A...554L...4S}, author = {J. Sanchez-Bermudez and Sch{\"o}del, R. and Alberdi, A. and Barb{\'a}, R.~H. and Hummel, C.~A. and Ma{\'\i}z Apell{\'a}niz, J. and Pott, J.-U.} } @article {2012ApJ...744L..19K, title = {{Discovery of Two Supernovae in the Nuclear Regions of the Luminous Infrared Galaxy IC 883}}, journal = {The Astrophysical Journal Letters}, volume = {744}, year = {2012}, pages = {L19}, abstract = {We report the discovery of two consecutive supernovae (SNe), 2010cu and 2011hi, located at 0farcs37 (180 pc) and 0farcs79 (380 pc) projected distance, respectively, from the center of the K-band nucleus of the luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) IC 883. The SNe were discovered in an ongoing near-infrared K-band search for core-collapse SNe in such galaxies using the ALTAIR/NIRI adaptive optics system with laser guide star at the Gemini-North Telescope. These are thus the closest SNe yet discovered to an LIRG nucleus in optical or near-infrared wavelengths. The near-infrared light curves and colors of both SNe are consistent with core-collapse events. Both SNe seem to suffer from relatively low host galaxy extinction suggesting that regardless of their low projected galactocentric distances, they are not deeply buried in the nuclear regions of the host galaxy.}, keywords = {galaxies: individual: IC 883, galaxies: starburst, infrared: galaxies, instrumentation: adaptive optics, supernovae: individual: SN 2010cu SN 2011hi}, doi = {10.1088/2041-8205/744/2/L19}, url = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2012ApJ...744L..19K}, author = {Kankare, E. and Mattila, S. and Ryder, S. and V{\"a}is{\"a}nen, P. and Alberdi, A. and Alonso-Herrero, A. and Colina, L. and Efstathiou, A. and Kotilainen, J. and Melinder, J. and M. A. P{\'e}rez-Torres and Romero-Ca{\~n}izales, C. and Takalo, A.} } @article {2011A\&A...533A.111M, title = {{Detection of jet precession in the active nucleus of M 81}}, journal = {Astronomy and Astrophysics}, volume = {533}, year = {2011}, month = {sep}, pages = {A111}, abstract = {We report on very-long-baseline-interferometry (VLBI) monitoring observations of the low-luminosity active galactic nucleus (LLAGN) in the galaxy M 81 at the frequencies of 1.7, 2.3, 5.0, and 8.4 GHz. The observations reported here are phase-referenced to the supernova SN 1993J (located in the same galaxy) and cover from late 1993 to late 2005. The large amount of available observations allows us to study the stability of the AGN position in the frame of its host galaxy at different frequencies and chromatic effects in the jet morphology, together with their time evolution. The source consists at all frequencies of a slightly resolved core and a small jet extension towards the northeast direction (position angle of \~{}65 degrees) in agreement with previous publications. We find that the position of the intensity peak in the images at 8.4 GHz is very stable in the galactic frame of M 81 (proper motion upper limit about 10 {$μ$}as per year). We confirm previous reports that the peaks at all frequencies are systematically shifted among them, possibly due to opacity effects in the jet as predicted by the standard relativistic jet model. We use this model, under plausible assumptions, to estimate the magnetic field in the jet close to the jet base and the mass of the central black hole. We obtain a black-hole mass of \~{}2 {\times} 10$^{7}$ M$_{\&sun;}$, comparable to estimates previously reported using different approaches, but the magnetic fields obtained are 10$^{3}$-10$^{4}$ times lower than previous estimates. We find that the positions of the cores at 1.7, 2.3, and 5.0 GHz are less stable than that at 8.4 GHz and evolve systematically, shifting southward at a rate of several tens of {$μ$}as per year. The evolution in the jet orientation seems to be related to changes in the inclination of the cores at all frequencies. These results can be interpreted as due to a precessing jet. The evolving jet orientation also seems to be related to a flare in the peak flux densities at 5.0 and 8.4 GHz, which lasts \~{}4 years (from mid 1997 to mid 2001). An increase in the accretion rate of the black hole, and its correlation with the jet luminosity via the disk-jet connection model, seems insufficient to explain this long flare and the simultaneous evolution in the jet orientation. A continued monitoring of the flux density and the jet structure evolution in this LLAGN will be necessary to further confirm our jet precession model.}, keywords = {astrometry, galaxies: active, galaxies: individual: M 81, galaxies: jets, radiation mechanisms: non-thermal, radio continuum: galaxies}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/201117211}, url = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2011A\%26A...533A.111M}, author = {Mart{\'\i}-Vidal, I. and Marcaide, J.~M. and Alberdi, A. and M. A. P{\'e}rez-Torres and Ros, E. and Guirado, J.~C.} }