Context. Very massive stars pass through the Wolf-Rayet (WR) stage before they finally explode. Details of their evolution have not yet been safely established, and their physics are not well understood. Their spectral analysis requires adequate model atmospheres, which have been developed step by step during the past decades and account in their recent version for line blanketing by the millions of lines from iron and iron-group elements. However, only very few WN stars have been re-analyzed by means of line-blanketed models yet. Aims. The quantitative spectral analysis of a large sample of Galactic WN stars with the most advanced generation of model atmospheres should provide an empirical basis for various studies about the origin, evolution, and physics of the Wolf-Rayet stars and their powerful winds. Methods. We analyze a large sample of Galactic WN stars by means of the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmospheres, which account for iron line blanketing and clumping. The results are compared with a synthetic population, generated from the Geneva tracks for massive star evolution. Results. We obtain a homogeneous set of stellar and atmospheric parameters for the Galactic WN stars, partly revising earlier results. Conclusions. Comparing the results of our spectral analyses of the Galactic WN stars with the predictions of the Geneva evolutionary calculations, we conclude that there is rough qualitative agreement. However, the quantitative discrepancies are still severe, and there is no preference for the tracks that account for the effects of rotation. It seems that the evolution of massive stars is still not satisfactorily understood.

Context. Massive stars, although being important building blocks of galaxies, are still not fully understood. This especially holds true for Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars with their strong mass loss, whose spectral analysis requires adequate model atmospheres. Aims. Following our comprehensive studies of the WR stars in the Milky Way, we now present spectroscopic analyses of almost all known WN stars in the LMC. Methods. For the quantitative analysis of the wind-dominated emission-line spectra, we employ the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmosphere code. By fitting synthetic spectra to the observed spectral energy distribution and the available spectra (ultraviolet and optical), we obtain the physical properties of 107 stars. Results. We present the fundamental stellar and wind parameters for an almost complete sample of WN stars in the LMC. Among those stars that are putatively single, two different groups can be clearly distinguished. While 12% of our sample are more luminous than 10 6 L and contain a significant amount of hydrogen, 88% of the WN stars, with little or no hydrogen, populate the luminosity range between log (L/L ) = 5.3 ... 5.8. Conclusions. While the few extremely luminous stars (log (L/L ) > 6), if indeed single stars, descended directly from the main sequence at very high initial masses, the bulk of WN stars have gone through the red-supergiant phase. According to their luminosities in the range of log (L/L ) = 5.3 ... 5.8, these stars originate from initial masses between 20 and 40 M . This mass range is similar to the one found in the Galaxy, i.e. the expected metallicity dependence of the evolution is not seen. Current stellar evolution tracks, even when accounting for rotationally induced mixing, still partly fail to reproduce the observed ranges of luminosities and initial masses. Moreover, stellar radii are generally larger and effective temperatures correspondingly lower than predicted from stellar evolution models, probably due to subphotospheric inflation.

Comprehensive spectral analyses of the Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars of the nitrogen sequence (i.e. the WN subclass) have been performed in a previous paper. However, the distances of these objects were poorly known. Distances have a direct impact on the “absolute” parameters, such as luminosities and mass-loss rates. The recent Gaia Data Release (DR2) of trigonometric parallaxes includes nearly all WN stars of our Galactic sample. In the present paper, we apply the new distances to the previously analyzed Galactic WN stars and rescale the results accordingly. On this basis, we present a revised catalog of 55 Galactic WN stars with their stellar and wind parameters. The correlations between mass-loss rate and luminosity show a large scatter, for the hydrogen-free WN stars as well as for those with detectable hydrogen. The slopes of the log L − log Ṁ correlations are shallower than found previously. The empirical Hertzsprung–Russell diagram (HRD) still shows the previously established dichotomy between the hydrogen-free early WN subtypes that are located on the hot side of the zero-age main sequence (ZAMS), and the late WN subtypes, which show hydrogen and reside mostly at cooler temperatures than the ZAMS (with few exceptions). However, with the new distances, the distribution of stellar luminosities became more continuous than obtained previously. The hydrogen-showing stars of late WN subtype are still found to be typically more luminous than the hydrogen-free early subtypes, but there is a range of luminosities where both subclasses overlap. The empirical HRD of the Galactic single WN stars is compared with recent evolutionary tracks. Neither these single-star evolutionary models nor binary scenarios can provide a fully satisfactory explanation for the parameters of these objects and their location in the HRD.

Context. Three very massive clusters are known to reside in the Galactic center region, the Arches cluster, the Quintuplet cluster, and the central parsec cluster, each of them rich in young hot stars. With new infrared instruments, this region is no longer obscured for the observer. Aims. For understanding these very massive clusters, it is essential to know their stellar inventory. We provide comprehensive spectroscopic data for the stellar population of the Quintuplet cluster that will form the basis of subsequent spectral analyses. Methods. Spectroscopic observations of the Quintuplet cluster were obtained with the Integral Field Spectrograph SINFONI-SPIFFI at the ESO-VLT. The inner part of the Quintuplet cluster was covered by 22 slightly overlapping fields, each of them of 8 × 8 in size. The spectral range comprises the near-IR K-band from 1.94 to 2.45 μm. The 3D data cubes of the individual fields were flux-calibrated and combined to one contiguous cube, from which the spectra of all detectable point sources were extracted.Results. We present a catalog of 160 stellar sources in the inner part of the Quintuplet cluster. The flux-calibrated K-band spectra of 98 early-type stars and 62 late-type stars are provided as Online Material. Based on these spectra, we assign spectral types to all detected sources and derive synthetic K s -band magnitudes. Our sample is complete to about the 13th K-magnitude. We report the detection of two hitherto unknown Wolf-Rayet stars of late WC type (WC9 or later). Radial velocities are measured and employed to assess the cluster membership. The quantitative analysis of the early-type spectra will be the subject of a subsequent paper.

Massive stars rapidly change their masses through strong stellar winds and mass transfer in binary systems. The latter aspect is important for populations of massive stars as more than 70% of all O-stars are expected to interact with a binary companion during their lifetime. We show that such mass changes leave characteristic signatures in stellar mass functions of young star clusters which can be used to infer their ages and to identify products of binary evolution. We model the observed present day mass functions of the young Galactic Arches and Quintuplet star clusters using our rapid binary evolution code. We find that shaping of the mass function by stellar wind mass loss allows us to determine the cluster ages to 3.5 ± 0.7 Myr and 4.8 ± 1.1 Myr, respectively. Exploiting the effects of binary mass exchange on the cluster mass function, we find that the most massive stars in both clusters are rejuvenated products of binary mass transfer, i.e. the massive counterpart of classical blue straggler stars. This resolves the problem of an apparent age spread among the most luminous stars exceeding the expected duration of star formation in these clusters. We perform Monte Carlo simulations to probe stochastic sampling, which support the idea of the most massive stars being rejuvenated binary products. We find that the most massive star is expected to be a binary product after 1.0 ± 0.7 Myr in Arches and after 1.7 ± 1.0 Myr in Quintuplet. Today, the most massive 9 ± 3 stars in Arches and 8 ± 3 in Quintuplet are expected to be such objects. Our findings have strong implications for the stellar upper mass limit and solve the discrepancy between the claimed 150 M limit and observations of fours stars with initial masses of 165-320 M in R136 and of SN 2007bi, which is thought to be a pair-instability supernova from an initial 250 M star. Using the stellar population of R136, we revise the upper mass limit to values in the range 200-500 M .

Context. The stellar mass function is a probe for a potential dependence of star formation on the environment. Only a few young clusters are known to reside within the central molecular zone and can serve as testbeds for star formation under the extreme conditions in this region. Aims. We determine the present-day mass function of the Quintuplet cluster, a young massive cluster in the vicinity of the Galactic centre. Methods. We use two epochs of high resolution near infrared imaging data obtained with NAOS/CONICA at the ESO VLT to measure the individual proper motions of stars in the Quintuplet cluster in the cluster reference frame. An unbiased sample of cluster members within a radius of 0.5 pc from the cluster centre was established based on their common motion with respect to the field and a subsequent colour-cut. Initial stellar masses were inferred from four isochrones covering ages from 3 to 5 Myr and two sets of stellar evolution models. For each isochrone, the present-day mass function of stars was determined for the full sample of main sequence cluster members using an equal number binning scheme. Results. We find the slope of the present-day mass function in the central part of the Quintuplet cluster to be α = −1.68 +0.13 −0.09 for an approximate mass range from 5 to 40 M , which is significantly flatter than the Salpeter slope of α = −2.35. The flattening of the present-day mass function may be caused by rapid dynamical evolution of the cluster in the strong Galactic centre tidal field. The derived mass function slope is compared to the values found in other young massive clusters in the Galaxy.

Based on K-band integral-field spectroscopy, we analyze four Wolf-Rayet stars of the nitrogen sequence (WN) found in the inner part of the Quintuplet cluster. All WN stars (WR 102d, WR 102i, WR 102hb, and WR 102ea) are of spectral subtype WN9h. One further star, LHO 110, is included in the analysis which has been classified as Of/WN? previously but turns out to be most likely a WN9h star as well. The Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) models for expanding atmospheres are used to derive the fundamental stellar and wind parameters. The stars turn out to be very luminous, log (L/L ) > 6.0, with relatively low stellar temperatures, T * ≈ 25−35 kK. Their stellar winds contain a significant fraction of hydrogen, up to X H ∼ 0.45 (by mass). We discuss the position of the Galactic center WN stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and find that they form a distinct group. In this respect, the Quintuplet WN stars are similar to late-type WN stars found in the Arches cluster and elsewhere in the Galaxy. Comparison with stellar evolutionary models reveals that the Quintuplet WN stars should have been initially more massive than 60 M . They are about 2.4−3.6 million years old, and might still be central hydrogen burning objects. The analysis of the spectral energy distributions of the program stars results in a mean extinction of A K = 3.1 ± 0.5 mag (A V = 27 ± 4 mag) towards the Quintuplet cluster.

We report on the first detection of 13C enhancement in two B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Stellar evolution models predict the surface abundance in 13C to strongly increase during main‐sequence and post‐main‐sequence evolution of massive stars. However, direct identification of chemically processed material on the surface of B[e]SGs is hampered by their dense, disc‐forming winds, hiding the stars. Recent theoretical computations predict the detectability of enhanced 13C via the molecular emission in 13CO arising in the circumstellar discs of B[e]SGs. To test this potential method and to unambiguously identify a post‐main‐sequence B[e] SG by its 13CO emission, we have obtained high‐quality K‐band spectra of two known B[e] SGs in the Large Magellanic Cloud, using the Very Large Telescope's Spectrograph for INtegral Field Observation in the Near‐Infrared (VLT/SINFONI). Both stars clearly show the 13CO band emission, whose strength implies a strong enhancement of 13C, in agreement with theoretical predictions. This first ever direct confirmation of the evolved nature of B[e]SGs thus paves the way to the first identification of a Galactic B[e]SG.