X-ray properties of O and B stars in Carina

Binaries appear only slightly harder and slightly more luminous in X-rays than single objects; the differences are not formally significant (at the 1% level), except for the L_X-L_BOL ratio in the medium (1.0-2.5keV) energy band. Weak-wind objects have similar X-ray luminosities but they display slightly softer spectra compared with "normal" O stars with the same bolometric luminosity. Discarding three overluminous objects, we find a very shallow trend of harder emission in brighter objects.

The properties of the few B stars bright enough to yield some spectral information appear to be different overall (constant X-ray luminosities, harder spectra), hinting that another mechanism for producing X-rays, besides wind shocks, might be at work. However, it must be stressed that the earliest and X-ray brightest among these few detected objects are similar to the latest O stars, suggesting a possibly smooth transition between the two processes.