The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula survey XX. The nature of the X-ray bright emission line star VFTS 399

TL;DR

This paper investigates the nature of VFTS 399, an X-ray bright, rapidly rotating O-type star in 30 Doradus, revealing it as a high-mass X-ray binary with a neutron star companion, a novel finding in this region.

Contribution

The study identifies VFTS 399 as the first high-mass X-ray binary in 30 Doradus, linking rapid rotation in apparently single O-type stars to binary evolution processes.

Findings

VFTS 399 exhibits complex emission profiles and near-IR excess.

X-ray luminosity suggests an accreting neutron star companion.

Periodic X-ray modulation supports the neutron star hypothesis.

Abstract

The stellar population of the 30 Doradus star-forming region in the Large Magellanic Cloud contains a subset of apparently single, rapidly rotating O-type stars. The physical processes leading to the formation of this cohort are currently uncertain. One member of this group, the late O-type star VFTS 399, is found to be unexpectedly X-ray bright for its bolometric luminosity - in this study we aim to determine its physical nature and the cause of this behaviour. We find VFTS 399 to be an aperiodic photometric variable with an apparent near-IR excess. Its optical spectrum demonstrates complex emission profiles in the lower Balmer series and select HeI lines - taken together these suggest an OeBe classification. The highly variable X-ray luminosity is too great to be produced by a single star, while the hard, non-thermal nature suggests the presence of an accreting relativistic companion. Finally, the detection of periodic modulation of the X-ray lightcurve is most naturally explained under the assumption that the accretor is a neutron star. VFTS 399 appears to be the first high-mass X-ray binary identified within 30 Dor. Comparison of the current properties of VFTS 399 to binary-evolution models suggests a progenitor mass in excess of 25Msun for the putative neutron star, which may host a magnetic field comparable in strength to those of magnetars. VFTS 399 is now the second member of the cohort of rapidly rotating `single' O-type stars in 30 Dor to show evidence of binary interaction resulting in spin-up, suggesting that this may be a viable evolutionary pathway for the formation of a subset of this stellar population.