Impact of mass-loss on the evolution and pre-supernova properties of red supergiants

Meynet, Georges; Chomienne, Vincent; Ekström, Sylvia; Georgy, Cyril; Granada, A.; Groh, J. H.; Maeder, A.; Eggenberger, P.; Levesque, Emily M.; Massey, Philip

doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201424671

Cited by 141 publications

(157 citation statements)

References 92 publications

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“…The evolution of massive stars, especially in their late phases, is still not completely understood (e.g., Langer et al 1994;Vanbeveren et al 1998;Langer 2012;Sander et al 2014;Meynet et al 2015). Comparing empirical results with theoretical predictions is the basic instrument to unveil the evolutionary status connections.…”

Section: Discussion Of the Evolutionary Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Hainich

Pasemann

Todt

et al. 2015

A&A

105

159

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Context. Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars have a severe impact on their environments owing to their strong ionizing radiation fields and powerful stellar winds. Since these winds are considered to be driven by radiation pressure, it is theoretically expected that the degree of the wind mass-loss depends on the initial metallicity of WR stars. Aims. Following our comprehensive studies of WR stars in the Milky Way, M 31, and the LMC, we derive stellar parameters and massloss rates for all seven putatively single WN stars known in the SMC. Based on these data, we discuss the impact of a low-metallicity environment on the mass loss and evolution of WR stars. Methods. The quantitative analysis of the WN stars is performed with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) model atmosphere code. The physical properties of our program stars are obtained from fitting synthetic spectra to multi-band observations. Results. In all SMC WN stars, a considerable surface hydrogen abundance is detectable. The majority of these objects have stellar temperatures exceeding 75 kK, while their luminosities range from 10 5.5 to 10 6.1 L . The WN stars in the SMC exhibit on average lower mass-loss rates and weaker winds than their counterparts in the Milky Way, M 31, and the LMC. Conclusions. By comparing the mass-loss rates derived for WN stars in different Local Group galaxies, we conclude that a clear dependence of the wind mass-loss on the initial metallicity is evident, supporting the current paradigm that WR winds are driven by radiation. A metallicity effect on the evolution of massive stars is obvious from the HRD positions of the SMC WN stars at high temperatures and high luminosities. Standard evolution tracks are not able to reproduce these parameters and the observed surface hydrogen abundances. Homogeneous evolution might provide a better explanation for their evolutionary past.

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Section: Discussion Of the Evolutionary Statusmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Hainich

Pasemann

Todt

et al. 2015

A&A

105

159

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“…Moreover, we use the models with an enhanced mass loss rate model during the RSG phase recently published by Meynet et al (2015). The models are computed using the Schwarzschild criteria for convection with core overshooting.…”

Section: The Stellar Modelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1, BSG can be in two different evolutionary phases, evolving toward the RSG or back to hotter temperatures from the RSG stage. That some core collapse supernovae have a yellow or even a blue progenitor (e.g., see Table 6 in Meynet et al 2015) indicates that the latter phase does indeed occur in nature and is not just a theoretical artifact. Moreover, some pulsation properties of blue supergiants are accounted for much better if the objects are in a post RSG stage (Saio et al 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The flux-weighted gravity-luminosity relationship of blue supergiant stars as a constraint for stellar evolution

Meynet

Kudritzki

Georgy

2015

A&A

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Context. The flux-weighted gravity-luminosity relationship (FGLR) of blue supergiant stars (BSG) links their absolute magnitude to the spectroscopically determined flux-weighted gravity log g/T 4 eff . BSG are the brightest stars in the universe at visual light and the application of the FGLR has become a powerful tool for determining extragalactic distances. Aims. Observationally, the FGLR is a tight relationship with only small scatter. It is, therefore, ideal for using as a constraint for stellar evolution models. The goal of this work is to investigate whether stellar evolution can reproduce the observed FGLR and to develop an improved foundation for the FGLR as an extragalactic distance indicator. Methods. We used different grids of stellar models for initial masses between 9 and 40 M and for metallicities between Z = 0.002 and 0.014, with and without rotation, which were computed with various mass loss rates during the red supergiant phase. For each of these models, we discuss the details of post-main sequence evolution and construct theoretical FGLRs by means of population synthesis models that we then compare with the observed FGLR. Results. In general, the stellar evolution model FGLRs agree reasonably well with the observed one. There are, however, differences between the models, in particular with regard to the shape and width (scatter) in the flux-weighted gravity-luminosity plane. The best agreement is obtained with models that include the effects of rotation and assume that the large majority, if not all, of the observed BSG evolve toward the red supergiant phase and that only a few are evolving back from this stage. The effects of metallicity on the shape and scatter of the FGLR are small. Conclusions. The shape, scatter, and metallicity dependence of the observed FGLR are explained well by stellar evolution models. This provides a solid theoretical foundation for using this relationship as a robust extragalactic distance indicator.

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“…Larger are the mass losses, larger will be the decrease as a function of luminosity of the number of red supergiants (see for instance the left panel of Fig. 5 in Meynet et al 2015). This might be interesting to measure from complete red supergiant samples the slope of the luminosity distribution function and to compare with predictions of population synthesis models based on various mass loss rates during the red supergiant phase.…”

Section: Mass Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To illustrate this point, it is interesting to compare the post red supergiant evolution obtained with different prescriptions for the red supergiant mass loss rate (Salasnich et al 1999;Vanbeveren et al 2007, Georgy 2012, Meynet et al 2015. As is well known, removing mass during the red supergiant stage may make the star to evolve back to the blue side of the HR diagram.…”

Section: Mass Lossesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Massive stars, successes and challenges

Meynet¹,

Maeder²,

Georgy³

et al. 2016

Proc. IAU

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Abstract. We give a brief overview of where we stand with respect to some old and new questions bearing on how massive stars evolve and end their lifetime. We focus on the following key points that are further discussed by other contributions during this conference: convection, mass losses, rotation, magnetic field and multiplicity. For purpose of clarity, each of these processes are discussed on its own but we have to keep in mind that they are all interacting between them offering a large variety of outputs, some of them still to be discovered.

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Impact of mass-loss on the evolution and pre-supernova properties of red supergiants

Cited by 141 publications

References 92 publications

Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud

The flux-weighted gravity-luminosity relationship of blue supergiant stars as a constraint for stellar evolution

Massive stars, successes and challenges

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