Abstract

Magnetism and Line Profile Variability in Rigel

Matthew Shultz (Queen's University)

Gregg Wade, RMC; Veronique Petit, West Chester; Jason Grunhut, Queens; David Hanes, Queens

Under the auspices of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) project, 65 high-resolution Stokes V spectra were obtained using the spectropolarimeters ESPaDOnS at CFHT and Narval at TBL. All measurements are consistent with a null result. Here we report upper limits on the magnetic fields of various geometries that could potentially be present in Rigel's photosphere. In addition to simple dipolar fields, more exotic geometries such as toroidal and spotted fields are investigated, in order to address hypotheses invoking magnetic effects to explain aperiodic line profile variability - the signature of the alpha Cygni variables - which are found in nearly all BA supergiants.