An Extensive Collection of Stellar Wind X - ray Source Region Emission Line Parameters , Temperatures , Velocities , and Their Radial Distributions as Obtained from Chandra Observations

Chandra high energy resolution observations have now been obtained from numerous non-peculiar O and early B stars. The observed X-ray emission line profiles and line ratio diagnostics differ from the pre-launch predictions, and the interpretations are still problematic. This paper presents a straightforward analysis of a broad collection of OB stellar line profile data to search for morphological trends. X-ray line emission parameters (line flux, line emission measure, HWHM, and line-shift) are extracted and their distributions with respect to luminosity class are examined. The stellar wind spatial distributions of the X-ray sources are derived from the He-like ion f/i line ratio. X-ray source temperatures are derived from the line ratio of the H-like to He-like lines for a given element. Our results are presented in a set of data tables, histograms, and scatter plots which allow us to explore global trends in the line emission parameters and the spatial distribution of derived quantities. From our luminosity class grouping study, certain systematic trends in the emission line parameters have emerged. The line profiles show line widths that increase with stellar luminosity. The line-shift histograms show evidence for a small, but finite, blue-ward asymmetry which increases with luminosity class. Nevertheless, the majority of emission lines are found to be symmetric with little central line displacement. This poses problems in our understanding of current OB X-ray source models. From our spatial distribution study we find that the highest energy ion stages are located deep within the wind, and their derived X-ray temperatures are generally highest near the star and steadily decrease towards lower values in the outer wind regions. This behavior is most pronounced in the OB supergiants. For the lower density wind