THE WIND-WIND COLLISION (WWC) IN ECCENTRIC MASSIVE BINARY SYSTEMS PRODUCES PREDICTABLY VARIABLE SHOCK-HEATED X-RAY PLASMA. THIS COLLISION PROVIDES AN IDEAL LABORATORY FOR SHOCK ASTROPHYSICS PROVIDING KEY CONSTRAINTS ON HOW GAS THERMALIZES AT VARIABLE DENSITY AND ON PARTICLE ACCELERATION. JOINT NUSTAR AND XMM-NEWTON OBSERVATION OF WR 140 IN AO14 DISCOVERED AN EXTREMELY HARD XRAY COMPONENT WHICH CAN ORIGINATE EITHER FROM A KT ~13 KEV PLASMA OR INVERSE-COMPTON SCATTERING. WR 140 WILL EXPERIENCE ITS PERIASTRON PASSAGE IN 2016 DEC. A CRITICAL TIME WHEN THE WWC EMISSION CHANGES DRAMATICALLY. WE PROPOSE JOINT NUSTAR AND XMMNEWTON OBSERVATIONS OF WR 140 AT KEY PHASES AROUND PERIASTRON IN AO15 TO DETERMINE THE ORIGIN OF THIS COMPONENT AND ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ABRUPT X-RAY FLUX DECREASE.

University Of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore MD

Investigators