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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0The Astrophysical Journal

A Multiwavelength View of ρ Oph. II. Disentangling the Variability of the Multistar Component C

  • Sean J. Gunderson1
  • Walter W. Golay2
  • Jackson Codd3
  • David P. Huenemoerder1
  • Felipe Navarete4
  • Christiana Erba5,6
  • Alexandrea Moreno7
  • John M. Cannon3
  • Richard Ignace8
  • Pragati Pradhan9
  • the MACRO consortium
9 affiliations
  1. 1Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  2. 2Center for Astrophysics ∣ Harvard & Smithsonian
  3. 3Macalester College
  4. 4Laboratório Nacional de Astrofísica (LNA/MCTI)
  5. 5Space Telescope Science Institute
  6. 6California State University, Fresno
  7. 7University of Iowa
  8. 8East Tennessee State University
  9. 9Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
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Abstract

We present a multiwavelength analysis of the star ρ Oph C, covering X-ray, optical, near-infrared (NIR), and radio observations to test for the presence of interferometrically detected cool star companions. The X-ray observations from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR show flare-like events lasting minutes or days in time and have spectral properties consistent with those of cooler stars instead of the primary magnetic B star. The NIR data are also consistent with the proposed trinary system properties due to the presence of CO bandheads. After removing the primary B star’s rotation, the optical data from TESS show a residual signal at the level of 0.8 mmag, matching the variations expected from cool stars in orbit around a bright B star. Finally, multiepoch radio data reveal that ρ Oph C exhibits significant large-scale flux variations that are atypical for a magnetic massive star. Taken as a whole, the multiepoch and -wavelength data present a consistent picture of ρ Oph C as a rare trinary system composed of a hot star and two cool stars.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{gunderson2026multiwavelength,
  title = {{A Multiwavelength View of ρ Oph. II. Disentangling the Variability of the Multistar Component C}},
  author = {Sean J. Gunderson and Walter W. Golay and Jackson Codd and David P. Huenemoerder and Felipe Navarete and Christiana Erba and Alexandrea Moreno and John M. Cannon and Richard Ignace and Pragati Pradhan and the MACRO consortium},
  journal = {The Astrophysical Journal},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3847/1538-4357/aeac15},
  url = {https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeac15},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - A Multiwavelength View of ρ Oph. II. Disentangling the Variability of the Multistar Component C
AU  - Sean J. Gunderson
AU  - Walter W. Golay
AU  - Jackson Codd
AU  - David P. Huenemoerder
AU  - Felipe Navarete
AU  - Christiana Erba
AU  - Alexandrea Moreno
AU  - John M. Cannon
AU  - Richard Ignace
AU  - Pragati Pradhan
AU  - the MACRO consortium
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/28
JO  - The Astrophysical Journal
DO  - 10.3847/1538-4357/aeac15
UR  - https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-4357/aeac15
AB  - We present a multiwavelength analysis of the star ρ Oph C, covering X-ray, optical, near-infrared (NIR), and radio observations to test for the presence of interferometrically detected cool star companions. The X-ray observations from Chandra, XMM-Newton, and NuSTAR show flare-like events lasting minutes or days in time and have spectral properties consistent with those of cooler stars instead of the primary magnetic B star. The NIR data are also consistent with the proposed trinary system properties due to the presence of CO bandheads. After removing the primary B star’s rotation, the optical data from TESS show a residual signal at the level of 0.8 mmag, matching the variations expected from cool stars in orbit around a bright B star. Finally, multiepoch radio data reveal that ρ Oph C exhibits significant large-scale flux variations that are atypical for a magnetic massive star. Taken as a whole, the multiepoch and -wavelength data present a consistent picture of ρ Oph C as a rare trinary system composed of a hot star and two cool stars.
SN  - 1538-4357
SN  - 0004-637X
ER  -