MiMeS Motivation


Massive stars are those with initial masses on the main sequence above about 8 solar masses, leading to core-collapse (or pair-instability) supernovae. They dominate the ecology of the Universe as "cosmic engines" via their extreme output in radiation and particles - not only as supernovae, but also during their entire lifetimes - with far-reaching consequences. 

Although the existence of magnetic fields in massive stars is no longer in question, our knowledge of the basic statistical properties of massive star magnetic fields is seriously incomplete. There is a troubling deficit in our knowledge of the scope of the influence of fields on massive star evolution, and almost no empirical basis for how fields modify mass loss. The MiMeS project represents a consensus effort by an international team of recognized researchers who have compiled a strategic sample of sources to address these outstanding issues.


For more information, consult the MiMeS Science Statement.


The MiMeS Team


MiMeS steering committee (project and theme leaders):


MiMeS PI: Gregg Wade

Front-line/phase 2 (FL/P2) coordinator: Jason Grunhut

Data Archiving: David Bohlender

Field OB stars: Jean-Claude Bouret

Cluster OB stars: Véronique Petit

Be stars: Coralie Neiner

Herbig Be stars: Evelyne Alecian

Wolf-Rayet stars: Nicole St. Louis

Modeling/data interpretation: Oleg Kochukhov, Rich Townsend



Canada collaborators:


Alecian, E. (RMC) , Basu, S. (UWO), Bohlender, D. (NRC) , Braithwaite, J. (CITA), de la Chevrotiere, A. (Montreal) , Chandra, P. (RMC), Charbonneau P. (Montreal), Drissen, L. (Laval) , Fontaine, G. (Montreal) , Fullerton, A. (STScI) , Grunhut, J. (RMC), Houde, M. (UWO), Landstreet, J. (UWO), Leahy, D. (Calgary), Manset, N. (CFHT) , Michaud, G. (Montreal), Moffat, A. (Montreal) , Monin, D. (NRC), Ouyed, R. (Calgary), Petit, V. (Laval) , Power, J. (RMC), Robert, C. (Laval) , Silvester, J. (RMC) , St. Louis, N. (Montreal) , Wade, G. (RMC)


France Collaborators:


Aurière, M. (OMP), Böhm, T. (OMP), Bouret, J.-C. (LAM), Catala, C. (LESIA), Donati, J.-F. (OMP), Duez, V. (CEA), Hui Bon Hoa, A. (OMP), Lignières, F. (OMP), Marcolino, W. (LAM), Martins, F. (GRAAL), Mathis, S. (CEA), Montmerle, T. (LAG), Neiner, C. (GEPI)


Other countries collaborators:


Bagnulo, S. (Armagh Obs., UK), Cohen, D. (Swarthmore Coll., USA), Folsom, C. (Armagh Obs., UK), Gagné, M. (West Chester U., USA), Harrington, D. (UH, Hawaii), Henrichs, H. (Ast. Inst. Am., Netherlands), Howarth, I. (UCL, UK), Ignace, R. (E. Tenn. State U., USA), Kaper, L. (Ast. Inst. Am., Netherlands), Kochukhov, O. (Uppsala U., Sweden), Kuhn, J. (UH, Hawaii), Lanz, T. (U. Maryland, USA), Oksala, M. (U Delaware, USA), Owocki, S. (U Delaware, USA), Naze, Y. (U. Liege, Belgium), Townsend, R. (U. Wisconsin-Madison, USA), Vink, J. (Armagh Obs. UK), ud Doula, A. (Morrisville State College, USA), Vink, J. (Armagh Obs., UK), Walborn, N. (STScI, USA)


 

Magnetism in Massive Stars


A MagIcS Large Programme with ESPaDOnS
at the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

The MiMeS Project

The basic aim of MiMeS is to exploit the unique characteristics of ESPaDOnS to obtain critical missing information about the poorly-studied magnetic properties of massive stars, to confront current models and to guide theory. The four primary science drivers are:

  1. Physics of fossil stellar magnetic fields

  2. Physics of winds and magnetospheres of hot stars

  3. Stellar rotational evolution and magnetic braking

  4. Stellar evolution and origin of neutron star magnetic fields

MiMeS News


The MiMeS collaboration discovers

a strong magnetic field in the

weak-wind O-type star HD 57682


The 3rd MiMeS Workshop will occur
at the CFHT offices in Waimea, Hawaii
from 16-20 November 2009.


The MiMeS 2 Meeting occurred
at the Observatoire de Paris
from 11-15 May 2009. Presentations
are available on the MiMeS Wiki.


The First MiMeS Workshop occurred
at Royal Military College of Canada in
May of 2008.

MiMeS Overview:

Principal Investigator:

    Gregg A. Wade

    Royal Military College

    Kingston, Canada

Co-Investigators: 50+

Timeline: 2008-2012

Time Allocation: 640 hours


MiMeS Status:

Semester 2009B data acquisition




MiMeS News & Highlights:



                 MiMeS Selected as a

                 CFHT Large Programme



                First MiMeS Workshop

                30 June - 4 July 2008



                Petit et al. identify 2 new

                massive magnetic stars


               

                Alecian et al. find 2 young

                massive magnetic stars



                Bouret et al. discover a

                magnetic field in the O9.7

                supergiant ζ Ori A



MiMeS Links

  1. The MagIcS Collaboration

  2. ESPaDOnS@CFHT

  3. Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope

  4. CADC MiMeS Data Archive

  5. MiMeS Wiki