Colliding Winds in Massive Binaries

When the winds of massive stars collide they produce spectular X-ray emission and complex optical line profile variability. The collision zone takes the form of a bow-shaped shock-front, with the precise shape dependent on the ratio of the momenta of the two winds. I am using TORUS to model the optical line profile variability of O+O binaries.

	The picture to the left shows logarithmically scaled electron-scattering optical depth for a generic colliding wind binary. The primary has the stronger wind, and the interaction region is concave with respect to the secondary. The image is linked to an mpeg movie showing how the binary rotates.
	This is a simulation of colliding winds using TORUS. Illustrated (clockwise, from top-left) are the intensity image, the intensity + polarization vectors, a greyscaled dynamic spectrum of Halpha, the Halpha spectrum, the velocity image, and finally the polarized intensity image. Note the complex changes in Halpha with phase.