Found 29 talks width keyword massive stars

Extremely metal-poor or zero-metallicity very massive stars, with initial mass in the range 100 ≲ Mi/M⊙ ≲ 1000, have a broad astrophysical impact. Understanding how these population III stars evolve and die has implications for several key questions, including the nature of energetic transients such as pair-instability supernovæ and gamma-ray bursts, the source of extreme ionizing UV-radiation fields at high redshifts, the earliest chemical enrichment of their host galaxies and the rates of gravitational-wave emission from merging black holes among others. There are not many models in literature that follow the evolution of these population III stars, and even less so that reach the phases where the production of electron-positron pairs alter the stability of the whole star. We present new evolutionary models of very massive primordial stars, with initial masses ranging from 100 M☉ to 1000 M☉, that extend from the main sequence until the onset of dynamical instability. We focus on the final outcome of the models and associated compact remnants. Stars that avoid the pair-instability supernova channel, should produce black holes with masses ranging from ~ 40 M☉ to ~ 1000 M☉. In particular, stars with initial masses of about 100 M☉ could leave black holes of ≃ 85-90 M☉, values consistent with the estimated primary black hole mass of the GW190521 merger event. Overall, these results may contribute to explain future data from next-generation gravitational-wave detectors, such as the Einstein Telescope and Cosmic Explorer, which will have access to as-yet unexplored BH mass range of ~ 10^2-10^4 M☉ in the early universe.

Most high mass X-ray binaries contain neutron stars as companions to an OB star, while high mass black hole binaries are very rare. We use rapid binary population synthesis to predict the number and properties of OB stars with compact companions, while varying uncertain physics assumptions. We find that synthetic populations which agree with the population properties of Be stars, Wolf-Rayet stars, and neutron stars forecast a large and so far undetected population of massive black hole binaries with orbital periods between a few days and 1000 days. To find or rule out this population is key for quantifying the contribution of isolated binaries to the merging massive black holes found through their gravitational wave emission.

Exciting things may have happened sometimes to the stars we see in the sky today. For example, Betelgeuse, also known as Alpha-Ori, an M-type red supergiant, the 10th brightest sky in the sky (usually), may well have been a binary star in the past. Its rapid rotation, peculiarly large Galactic velocity, and unusual chemical abundances all point to it being kicked out from the birth environment and merging as a binary star. By comparing a Monte-Carlo stellar cluster population model with the observed populations of Galactic O- and B- type stars (progenitors of red supergiants), I will show that the story of Betelgeuse is not at all uncommon. In distant galaxies, closely related scenarios may give rise to peculiar core-collapse supernovae. I will conclude by briefly discussing how the diversity of such binary and triple stellar evolution histories reflects in the variety of the currently discovered core-collapse supernovae.

Gaia Data Release 3 (13 June 2022) contains astrophysical parameters for up to 1.5 billion sources derived from the low resolution BP and RP prism spectra, the high resolution RVS spectra, photometry and astrometry.

These include object classifications (star, galaxy, stellar spectral type,...), unresolved galaxies and quasar redshifts (~6 million), outlier objects, interstellar medium characterisation (extinction and DIBs), and spectroscopic and evolutionary parameters (~470 million) for a large variety of stellar types from ultra-cool dwarfs to hot OB stars.

In this talk, I will present an overview of the astrophysical parameter content of Gaia DR3 that was derived using the Astrophysical Parameters Inference System (Apsis) software. I will first give a brief description of the data, models and methods that were employed, and then I will focus on describing what type of parameters you can find in the archive and where to find them among the 30+ new tables. I will then describe the overall performance and present some pre-Gaia DR3 highlights.

The majority of massive stars are born in close binary systems with orbital periods of a few days. At some point during their core-hydrogen burning phase, both members of these close binaries inevitably overflow their Roche lobes simultaneously and get bound by a common equipotential surface. The characteristics of this `contact phase’ will determine the fate of the binary system: whether the stars will merge on the main sequence or evolve further towards becoming potential gravitational-wave progenitors. Although data is available for several of these massive contact binaries in the Magellanic Clouds and the Milky Way, there has not been a dedicated study of these systems so far. In this talk, I will present the first set of detailed binary models covering a wide range of initial masses (20-80 Msun) and initial periods (0.6-2 days), focusing especially on the properties of the contact phase. We find that our models can approximately reproduce the period-mass ratio trend of the observed binaries although for the higher masses of our grid, our model predictions do not match with what is observed. We also find that those binary models which are in contact over nuclear timescales evolve towards equal masses before ultimately merging on the main sequence. This first study of massive contact binaries has allowed us to gain insights into the physics of massive contact systems and also provide reasonable predictions for the final fate of close massive binary stars.

Globular clusters (GCs) are fascinating objects nearly as old as the Universe that provide insight on a large variety of astrophysical and cosmological processes. However, their formation and their early and long-term evolution are far from being understood. In particular, the classical paradigm describing GCs as large systems of coeval stars formed out of chemically homogeneous material has been definitively swept away by recent high-precision spectroscopic and deep photometric observations. These data have provided undisputed evidence that GCs host multiple stellar populations, with very peculiar chemical properties. In this talk, I will review the properties of these multiple populations, before presenting the different scenarios that have been proposed to describe their formation. I will focus on the (many) current theoretical issues and open questions. 

The existence of apparently isolated massive stars has been recognized for some time, and various explanations have been proposed to explain these ranging from isolated star formation to variouscluster ejection mechanisms. In this talk I will present recent results from Gaia and Hubble on stellar dynamics within the Tarantula Nebula/30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Cloud. I will discuss how these complementary datasets have improved our knowledge of this nearby mini-starburst. The first results indicate the existence of a few stars in the region with masses ~100 solar masses that have been ejected from the central dense cluster R136. Ejection velocities appear torange from a few 10s of km/s to ~100 km/s. Given the extreme youth of R136 it is therefore likely that the mechanism of ejection was via the dynamical interaction channel rather than the binary supernova ejection scenario.

The growth of astrophysical understanding typically results fromthe constructive interplay between theoretical ideas andobservational insights, with each mode of exploration drivingprogress at different times. The result is invariably a morecomplicated but richer picture of the phenomenon than initiallyenvisaged, as well as deeper appreciation of the behavior ofcomplex systems.In this talk, I will use the development of our understanding ofthe structure of outflows from massive O- and B-type stars toillustrate this collaborative “dance”. Starting from the smooth,spherically symmetric models for radiatively driven windsdeveloped in the late 1960s, our view of these outflows hasevolved to include the growth of inhomogeneities on a variety ofspatial scales. Explanations for the origin of this structure havein turn prompted the realization that non-radiative processesmust also shape the emergence of the wind from the stellarphotosphere. Consequently, O- and B-type stars are morecomplicated – and interesting! – objects than often thought.While many fruitful avenues of research remain to be explored,the current paradigm provides a (mostly) self-consistent pictureof massive stars and their outflows.

BRITE-Constellation (BRight Target Explorer) consists of six nano-satellites aiming to study of variability of the brightest stars in the sky. Austria, Poland, and Canada contribute two spacecraft each all launched into low earth orbits. The satellites have the same structure: they are 20 cm cubes, 7kg mass, with a CCD photometer fed by 3 cm aperture telescopes. The main difference between pairs of satellites is the instrument passband which set to blue (400-450nm) or red (550-700nm). The core scientific objective is to obtain high precision two color photometry, with a time base of up to 180 days, of stars brighter than 4.5 mag in order to study stellar pulsations, spots, and granulation, eclipsing binaries, search for planets and more.
Since the launch of the first two BRITE satellites in February 2013 more than 5 and a half years of experiences in space have been gathered to run the mission and a summary of lessons learned will be presented.  By now more than 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles have been published based on data collected by BRITE-Constellation satellites in space and most results presented therein benefitted greatly from supplementary spectroscopy by meter size telescopes obtained on ground.

Approximately 10 per cent of massive OBA main-sequence (MS) and pre-MS stars harbour strong, large-scale magnetic fields. At the same time, there is a dearth of magnetic stars in close binaries. A process generating strong magnetic fields only in some stars must be responsible and several channels for the formation of magnetic massive stars have been proposed. In this talk, I will present recent results on the origin and evolution of such strong surface magnetic fields. Regarding the origin, mergers of MS and pre-MS stars have been proposed to form magnetic stars and I will highlight a method to probe this hypothesis observationally. Applying this new method to two magnetic massive stars, we find that they are indeed consistent with being MS merger products. Utilising a large sample of magnetic and non-magnetic OB stars, I will show that there is a dearth of evolved magnetic stars that suggests that magnetic fields disappear over time. I will argue that this is most likely caused by decaying magnetic fields.