An estimate is given of the possible gamma-ray luminosity from winds around hot stars. The predicted photon flux below 1 MeV from nearby stars can be greater than the detection threshold of the Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment on the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO). Charged particles are first-order Fermi accelerated to relativistic energies by strong isothermal shocks generated by radiatively driven instabilities in the winds. Low-energy gamma-rays of luminosity of about 10 exp 33 ergs/s are emitted by the relative electrons via inverse Compton scattering of the stellar UV photons and are predicted to be well correlated with the hard X-ray component observed by the Solid State Spectrometer of the Einstein Observatory from some nearby hot stars. Although these discrete gamma-ray sources in general are only marginally observable, positive detection by GRO will provide important information on particle acceleration by shocks and will certainly help to complete the multiwavelength picture of the chaotic, early-type stellar winds.
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Chen et al. (1991) studied this question.
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