No evidence of a sudden change of spectral appearance or magnetic field strength of the O9.7V star HD 54879

TL;DR

This study reanalyzes data on the O9.7V star HD 54879 and finds no evidence supporting previous claims of sudden spectral or magnetic field changes, suggesting earlier reports were spurious.

Contribution

The paper provides a comprehensive reanalysis of existing and new spectropolarimetric data, refuting prior claims of rapid spectral and magnetic variability in HD 54879.

Findings

No significant radial velocity variability detected.

No evidence of sudden spectral type changes.

Magnetic field strength remained stable.

Abstract

It was recently claimed that the magnetic O-type star HD 54879 exhibits important radial velocity variability indicative of its presence in a spectroscopic binary. More remarkably, it was furthermore reported that the star underwent a short, sudden variation in spectral type and magnetic field. In this Letter we examine new Narval and ESPaDOnS data of this star in addition to the previously-published FORS2 data and conclude that both the reported velocity variations and the sudden spectral and magnetic changes are spurious.