scholarly journals The Cooler Supergiants (A to M): Crucial Signposts in the Lifecycles of Massive Stars

1986 ◽  
Vol 116 ◽  
pp. 45-59
Author(s):  
Roberta M. Humphreys

The intermediate and late-type supergiants are the visually brightest stars. They are among the first stellar objects observed in other galaxies and provide our first clues to the conditions of massive star evolution in galaxies of different types. They are not as massive as the hottest and most luminous stars in the upper left of the HR diagram. Nevertheless, these somewhat lower mass stars (≈20−50 M⊙) with relatively cool temperatures play a major role in our efforts to understand massive star evolution. These supergiants are usually considered to be post hydrogen burning stars, and their relative numbers in the HR diagram provide essential comparisons with models for the later stages of massive star evolution. Most importantly, the most luminous cooler supergiants define the stability limit for massive stars in the HR diagram.

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S252) ◽  
pp. 317-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georges Meynet ◽  
Sylvia Ekström ◽  
Cyril Georgy ◽  
André Maeder ◽  
Raphael Hirschi

AbstractMass loss and axial rotation are playing key roles in shaping the evolution of massive stars. They affect the tracks in the HR diagram, the lifetimes, the surface abundances, the hardness of the radiation field, the chemical yields, the presupernova status, the nature of the remnant, the mechanical energy released in the interstellar medium, etc. . . In this paper, after recalling a few characteristics of mass loss and rotation, we review the effects of these two processes at different metallicities. Rotation probably has its most important effects at low metallicities, while mass loss and rotation deeply affect the evolution of massive stars at solar and higher than solar metallicities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S344) ◽  
pp. 392-395
Author(s):  
Yulia Perepelitsyna ◽  
Simon Pustilnik

AbstractThe lowest metallicity massive stars in the Local Universe with $Z\sim \left( {{Z}_{\odot }}/50-{{Z}_{\odot }}/30 \right)$ are the crucial objects to test the validity of assumptions in the modern models of very low-metallicity massive star evolution. These models, in turn, have major implications for our understanding of galaxy and massive star formation in the early epochs. DDO68-V1 in a void galaxy DDO68 is a unique extremely metal-poor massive star. Discovered by us in 2008 in the HII region Knot3 with $Z={{Z}_{\odot }}/35\,\left[ 12+\log \left( \text{O/H} \right)\sim 7.14 \right]$, DDO68-V1 was identified as an LBV star. We present here the LBV lightcurve in V band, combining own new data and the last archive and/or literature data on the light of Knot3 over the 30 years. We find that during the years 2008-2011 the LBV have experienced a very rare event of ‘giant eruption’ with V-band amplitude of 4.5 mag ($V\sim {{24.5}^{m}}-{{20}^{m}}$).


1988 ◽  
Vol 108 ◽  
pp. 408-409
Author(s):  
André Maeder

SummaryIdeally, the evolutionary models for the precursor of SN 1987 A should account for both the SN properties and the observational constraints for massive stars with relevant mass and composition.Mass loss is an essential property of massive star evolution. Recent parametrisations of mass loss rates for galactic stars cover the whole HR diagram. There are indications that for given L and Teff values, is lower at lower metallicity and therefore is lower in the LMC than in the Galaxy, thus we take with f < 1. Various models of an intitial 20 M⊙ star with f=0.2, 0.4, 0.6 and 1.0 are constructed (cf. Fig. 1) with a metallicity Z=0.006 and a moderate overshooting dover=0.3 Hp. From these models, we suggest an initial mass on the zero age sequence of 17 to 18 M⊙. The pre-SN location in the HR diagram very much depends on the remaining stellar mass, or more precisely on the mass of the remaining H-rich envelope. A final location at log Teff ≃ 4.2 is obtained for a final mass of about 9.0 M⊙ (cf. Fig.1). Scaled to an initial value of 17 M⊙, this corresponds to a final mass of about 8 M⊙ and a remaining H-rich envelope of a few tenths of a solar mass at most. The stellar surface exhibits CNO equilibrium values with C/N ≃ 0.01 and O/N ≃ 0.1 in mass fraction, and an hydrogen content X (surf) = 0.39. The blue progenitor is obtained for f=0.4, i.e. for -values in the LMC equal to 40% of the galactic values.


2003 ◽  
Vol 212 ◽  
pp. 38-46
Author(s):  
Roberta M. Humphreys

Current observations of the S Dor/LBVs and candidates and the implications for their important role in massive star evolution are reviewed. Recent observations of the cool hypergiants are altering our ideas about their evolutionary state, their atmospheres and winds, and the possible mechanisms for their asymmetric high mass loss episodes which may involve surface activity and magnetic fields. Recent results for IRC+10420, ρ Cas and VY CMa are highlighted. S Dor/LBVs in eruption, and the cool hypergiants in their high mass loss phases with their optically thick winds are not what their apparent spectra and temperatures imply; they are then ‘impostors’ on the H-R diagram. The importance of the very most massive stars, like η Carinae and the ‘supernovae impostors’ are also discussed.


Author(s):  
Sylvia Ekström

After a brief introduction to stellar modeling, the main lines of massive star evolution are reviewed, with a focus on the nuclear reactions from which the star gets the needed energy to counterbalance its gravity. The different burning phases are described, as well as the structural impact they have on the star. Some general effects on stellar evolution of uncertainties in the reaction rates are presented, with more precise examples taken from the uncertainties of the 12C(α, γ)16O reaction and the sensitivity of the s-process on many rates. The changes in the evolution of massive stars brought by low or zero metallicity are reviewed. The impact of convection, rotation, mass loss, and binarity on massive star evolution is reviewed, with a focus on the effect they have on the global nucleosynthetic products of the stars.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (S344) ◽  
pp. 153-160
Author(s):  
Sylvia Ekström ◽  
Georges Meynet ◽  
Cyril Georgy ◽  
José Groh ◽  
Arthur Choplin ◽  
...  

AbstractMassive stars are the drivers of the chemical evolution of dwarf galaxies. We review here the basics of massive star evolution and the specificities of stellar evolution in low-Z environment. We discuss nucleosynthetic aspects and what observations could constrain our view on the first generations of stars.


1991 ◽  
Vol 148 ◽  
pp. 339-340
Author(s):  
V. Caloi ◽  
A. Cassatella ◽  
V. Castellani ◽  
G. Klare

Low resolution spectra from 1200 to 3300Å have been obtained, with the IUE satellite, for seven blue giants and supergiants in the young, metal-poor globular cluster NGC 330 in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). A further three spectra from the IUE archive have been added to the sample, covering a range of 2.5 mag. The effective temperatures and the local reddening in the SMC have been estimated, and the star positions in the theoretical HR diagram determined, and compared with theoretical predictions for massive star evolution. Substantial discrepancies have been found.


1984 ◽  
Vol 105 ◽  
pp. 279-297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta M. Humphreys

In this review I will primarily be discussing the observational data relevant to understanding the process of stellar evolution in galaxies of different types. This discussion will focus on the stellar content of the nearer galaxies; those galaxies in which the brightest individual stars are resolved and can be observed.


2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (S307) ◽  
pp. 92-93
Author(s):  
N. Britavskiy ◽  
A. Z. Bonanos ◽  
A. Mehner

AbstractWe present the first systematic survey of dusty massive stars (RSGs, LBVs, sgB[e]) in nearby galaxies, with the goal of understanding their importance in massive star evolution. Using the fact that these stars are bright in mid-infrared colors due to dust, we provide a technique for selecting and identifying dusty evolved stars based on the results of Bonanos et al. (2009, 2010), Britavskiy et al. (2014), and archival Spitzer/IRAC photometry. We present the results of our spectroscopic follow-up of luminous infrared sources in the Local Group dwarf irregular galaxies: Pegasus, Phoenix, Sextans A and WLM. The survey aims to complete the census of dusty massive stars in the Local Group.


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