Stellar-Wind Theory for O and B Stars

Author(s):  
Philip M. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
B Stars ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 236-237
Author(s):  
Philip M. Solomon

The rocket-ultraviolet observations of strong Doppler-shifted absorption lines of Siiv, Civ, Nv and other ions in the spectrum of O and B supergiants clearly indicate a high velocity outflow of matter from these stars. The presence of moderate ionisation stages in the stellar wind is conclusive evidence that the flow cannot be due to a high temperature corona as is the case for the solar wind. It is shown that the driving mechanism for the hot-star mass loss is radiation pressure exerted on the gas through absorption in resonance lines occurring at wavelengths near the maximum of the star's continuum flux. In the upper layers of these stars the outward force per gram of matter due to the radiation pressure can greatly exceed the gravitational acceleration making a static atmosphere impossible.The problem of a steady-state moving reversing layer is formulated and the solution leads to predictions of mass-loss rates as a function of effective temperature and gravity for all hot stars. These results are in substantial agreement with the observations.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 265-270
Author(s):  
L.R. Yungelson ◽  
A.G. Massevitch ◽  
A.V. Tutukov

It is shown that mass loss by stellar wind with rates observed in O, B-stars cannot change qualitatively their evolution in the core hydrogen-burning stage. The effects, that are usually attributed to the mass loss, can be explained by other causes: e.g., duplicity or enlarged chemically homogeneous stellar cores.The significance of mass loss by stellar wind for the evolution of massive stars was studied extensively by numerous authors (see e.g. Chiosi et al. (1979) and references therein). However, the problem is unclear as yet. There does not exist any satisfactory theory of mass loss by stars. Therefore one is usually forced to assume that mass loss rate depends on some input parameters.


1991 ◽  
Vol 143 ◽  
pp. 289-308
Author(s):  
J. P. Cassinelli

Two possible solutions to the Wolf-Rayet wind momentum problem are discussed: purely radiation driven wind theory, with multi-line effects, and Luminous Magnetic Rotator theory. Several recently developed radiative processes for enhancing M or v∞ are described, and it is concluded that only the winds of rather hot luminous Wolf-Rayet stars could possibly be driven by radiation. These stars should show evidence of acceleration at large radial distances. For the rapid rotators, it is possible to drive a dense equatorial outflow. Limits are discussed regarding the needed surface magnetic fields. With this model, the wind momentum problem is solved in a piece-wise fashion by having the large radio flux of Wolf-Rayet stars come from the equatorial zone and the broad P Cygni lines, arising in the polar wind. The Luminous Magnetic Rotator model can also be tested through observation, primarily through spectropolarimetry.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 19-25
Author(s):  
Henny J.G.L.M. Lamers

We determined the dependence of mass loss on the stellar parameters for O and B stars of various luminosities. We used four homogenous sets of mass loss rates derived by different authors from the radioflux, the infrared excess, the UV lines and Hα emission. As the rates derived from the radio flux are the least dependent on model assumptions for the stellar wind, these will be adopted as our standards. The others sets of mass loss rates will be corrected for the differences in the adopted wind model, especially in the velocity law, by scaling the rates to those derived from radio data, using the stars which the different sets have in common.


1980 ◽  
Vol 85 (A5) ◽  
pp. 2277 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Summers
Keyword(s):  

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (S290) ◽  
pp. 287-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Oskinova ◽  
A. Feldmeier ◽  
P. Kretschmar

AbstractThe clumping of massive star winds is an established paradigm, which is confirmed by multiple lines of evidence and is supported by stellar wind theory. We use the results from time-dependent hydrodynamical models of the instability in the line-driven wind of a massive supergiant star to derive the time-dependent accretion rate on to a compact object in the Bondi-Hoyle-Lyttleton approximation. The strong density and velocity fluctuations in the wind result in strong variability of the synthetic X-ray light curves. Photoionization of inhomogeneous winds is different from the photoinization of smooth winds. The degree of ionization is affected by the wind clumping. The wind clumping must also be taken into account when comparing the observed and model spectra of the photoionized stellar wind.


1981 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 181-186
Author(s):  
Henny J.G.L.M. Lamers

The UV resonance lines of early type stars show narrow absorption components, with a width of the order of 300 km s-1, superimposed on the wider P Cygni profiles. Such narrow components have been detected in the Copernicus spectra of a few early type stars by Morton (1976) and Snow and Morton (1979). The variability of these components was studied by Snow (1977) who compared two scans of the UV line profiles of 15 stars taken about four years apart. He found that the narrow components do not change in velocity (except for the CIII λ 1175 line in ζ, Pup) but that the strength of the components can change drastically. In some stars the narrow components were present in only one of the two spectra. We studied the characteristics of these narrow components in the Copernicus spectra (Snow and Jenkins, 1977). The stars are listed in Table 1. Examples of these narrow components are shown in Figure 1.


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