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Using Eggleton's stellar evolution code, we carry out 150 runs of Population I binary evolution calculations with the initial primary mass between 1 and 8 M⊙, the initial mass ratio between 1.1 and 4, and the onset of Roche lobe overflow (RLOF) at an early, middle or late Hertzsprung‐gap stage. We assume that RLOF is conservative in the calculations, and find that the remnant mass of the primary may change by more than 40 per cent over the range of initial mass ratio or orbital period, for a given primary mass. This is contrary to the often‐held belief that the remnant mass depends only on the progenitor mass if mass transfer begins in the Hertzsprung gap. We fit a formula, with an error less than 3.6 per cent, for the remnant (white dwarf) mass as a function of the initial mass M1i of the primary, the initial mass ratio qi and the radius of the primary at the onset of RLOF. We also find that a carbon–oxygen white dwarf with mass as low as 0.33 M⊙ may be formed if the initial mass of the primary is around 2.5 M⊙.

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One possible scenario for the formation of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars is the accretion of carbon-rich material from a binary companion which may no longer visible. It is generally assumed that the accreted material remains on the surface of the star and does not mix with the interior until first dredge-up. However, thermohaline mixing should mix the accreted material with the original stellar material as it has a higher mean molecular weight. We investigate the effect that this has on the surface abundances by modelling a binary system of metallicity Z = 10 −4 with a 2 M ⊙ primary star and a 0.74 M ⊙ secondary star in an initial orbit of 4000 days. The accretion of material from the wind of the primary leads to the formation of a carbon-rich secondary. We find that the accreted material mixes fairly rapidly throughout 90% of the star, with important consequences for the surface composition. Models with thermohaline mixing predict very different surface abundances after first dredge-up compared to canonical models of stellar evolution.

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What are supergranules? Why do they stand out? Preliminary results from realistic simulations of solar convection on supergranule scales (96 Mm wide by 20 Mm deep) are presented. The solar surface velocity amplitude is a decreasing power law from the scale of granules up to giant cells with a slight enhancement at supergranule scales. The simulations show that the size of the horizontal convective cells increases gradually and continuously with increasing depth. Without magnetic fields present there is (as yet) no enhancement at supergranule scales at the surface. A hypothesis is presented that it is the balance between the rate of magnetic flux emergence and the horizontal sweeping of magnetic flux by convective motions that determines the size of the magnetic network and produces the extra power at supergranulation scales.

We model helium-rich stars with solar metallicity (X = 0.7, Z = 0.02) progenitors that evolve to form AM Canum Venaticorum systems through a helium-star formation channel, with the aim to explain the observed properties of Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49. We show that semi-degenerate, H-exhausted (X ≤ 10−5), He-rich (Y ≈ 0.98) donors can be formed after a common envelope evolution (CEE) phase if either additional sources of energy are used to eject the common envelope, or a different formalism of CEE is implemented. We follow the evolution of such binary systems after the CEE phase using the Cambridge stellar evolution code, when they consist of a He-star and a white dwarf accretor, and report that the mass, radius, and mass-transfer rate of the donor, the orbital period of the system, and the lack of hydrogen in the spectrum of Gaia14aae and ZTFJ1637+49 match well with our modelled trajectories wherein, after the CEE phase Roche lobe overflow is governed not only by the angular momentum loss (AML) owing to gravitational wave radiation (AMLGR) but also an additional AML owing to α − Ω dynamos in the donor. This additional AML is modelled with our double-dynamo (DD) model of magnetic braking in the donor star. We explain that this additional AML is just a consequence of extending the DD model from canonical cataclysmic variable donors to evolved donors. We show that none of our modelled trajectories match with Gaia14aae or ZTFJ1637+49 if the systems are modelled only with AMLGR.