The evolution of red supergiant mass-loss rates

Beasor, Emma R.; Davies, Ben

doi:10.1093/mnras/stx3174

Cited by 63 publications

(43 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…We note that RSGs may experience strong mass loss that would lead to significant circumstellar extinction, as seen in some of the most luminous RSGs (e.g. Massey et al 2005;Davies et al 2008;Beasor & Davies 2018). Fig.…”

Section: Comparison Of the Three Methodsmentioning

confidence: 71%

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey

Britavskiy

Lennon

Patrick

et al. 2019

A&A

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Aims. We estimate physical parameters for the late-type massive stars observed as part of the VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS) in the 30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Methods. The observational sample comprises 20 candidate red supergiants (RSGs) which are the reddest ((B − V) > 1 mag) and brightest (V < 16 mag) objects in the VFTS. We use optical and near-infrared (near-IR) photometry to estimate their temperatures and luminosities, and introduce the luminosity–age diagram to estimate their ages. Results. We derive physical parameters for our targets, including temperatures from a new calibration of (J − Ks)0 colour for luminous cool stars in the LMC, luminosities from their J-band magnitudes (thence radii), and ages from comparisons with current evolutionary models. We show that interstellar extinction is a significant factor for our targets, highlighting the need to take it into account in the analysis of the physical parameters of RSGs. We find that some of the candidate RSGs could be massive AGB stars. The apparent ages of the RSGs in the Hodge 301 and SL 639 clusters show a significant spread (12–24 Myr). We also apply our approach to the RSG population of the relatively nearby NGC 2100 cluster, finding a similarly large spread. Conclusions. We argue that the effects of mass transfer in binaries may lead to more massive and luminous RSGs (which we call “red stragglers”) than expected from single-star evolution, and that the true cluster ages correspond to the upper limit of the estimated RSG ages. In this way, the RSGs can serve as a new and potentially reliable age tracer in young star clusters. The corresponding analysis yields ages of 24−3+5 Myr for Hodge 301, 22−5+6 Myr for SL 639, and 23−2+4 Myr for NGC 2100.

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Section: Comparison Of the Three Methodsmentioning

confidence: 71%

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey

Britavskiy

Lennon

Patrick

et al. 2019

A&A

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“…Jura & Kleinmann 1990). In addition, the total mass of the CSM inferred from our analysis of the pseudo-bolometric light curve ( 3.5 M ; see Section 3.1.2) is more than a factor of 3 higher than that expected to be lost by a lower mass star during the RSG phase (< 1 M for a star with an initial mass of 16 M ; Beasor & Davies 2018). As a consequence, there are a number of consistent, although not compelling, indications suggesting that the progenitor of SN 2015da was a LBV star.…”

Section: The Progenitor Starmentioning

confidence: 83%

The long-lived Type IIn SN 2015da: Infrared echoes and strong interaction within an extended massive shell

Tartaglia

Pastorello

Sollerman

et al. 2020

A&A

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We report the results of the first ∼ 4 years of spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of the Type IIn supernova SN 2015da (aka PSN J13522411+3941286, or iPTF16tu). The supernova exploded in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 5337, in a relatively highly extinguished environment. SN 2015da shows prominent Balmer lines in emission with narrow components at all times and a slow rise to maximum. In addition, early observations performed by amateur astronomers give a very well-constrained explosion epoch. The observables are consistent with continuous interaction between the supernova ejecta and a dense and extended H-rich circumstellar medium. This is likely the mechanism powering the light curve, as confirmed by the analysis of the pseudo bolometric light curve, which gives a total radiated energy 10 51 erg. Modeling the light curve in the context of a supernova shock breakout through a dense circumstellar medium allowed us to infer the mass of the pre-existing gas to be > 8.2 M , with an extreme mass-loss rate for the progenitor star 0.4 − 0.8 M yr −1 , suggesting that most of the circumstellar gas was produced during multiple eruptive events. Near-and mid-infrared observations reveal a flux excess in these domains, similar to those observed in SN 2010jl and other interacting transients, likely due to pre-existing radiatively-heated dust surrounding the supernova. By modeling the infrared excess, we infer a mass 0.4 × 10 −3 M for the dust.

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“…Young et al (2006) infer a progenitor with an initial mass of 15 -25 M that has lost most but not all of its hydrogen envelope. The similarity with SN 1993J, and the fact that progenitors in this mass range are generally considered not to have winds strong enough to lose their envelope (Heger et al 2003;Beasor & Davies 2018), has lead many to consider a binary scenario for the progenitor of Cas A.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No surviving non-compact stellar companion to Cassiopeia A

Kerzendorf

Do²,

Mink

et al. 2019

A&A

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Massive stars in binaries can give rise to extreme phenomena such as X-ray binaries and gravitational wave sources after one or both stars end their lives as core-collapse supernovae. Stars in close orbit around a stellar or compact companion are expected to explode as "stripped-envelope supernovae", showing no (Type Ib/c) or little (Type IIb) signs of hydrogen in the spectra, because hydrogen-rich progenitors are too large to fit. The physical processes responsible for the stripping process and the fate of the companion are still very poorly understood. Aiming to find new clues, we investigate Cas A, which is a very young (∼340 yr) and near (∼3.4 kpc) remnant of a core-collapse supernova. Cas A has been subject to several searches for possible companions, all unsuccessfully. We present new measurements of the proper motions and photometry of stars in the vicinity based on deep HST ACS/WFC and WFC3-IR data. We identify stellar sources that are close enough in projection but using their proper motions we show that none are compatible with being at the location of center at the time of explosion, in agreement with earlier findings. Our photometric measurements allow us to place much deeper (order-of-magnitude) upper limits on the brightness of possible undetected companions. We systematically compare them with model predictions for a wide variety of scenarios. We can confidently rule out the presence of any stellar companion of any reasonable mass and age (main sequence, pre main sequence or stripped) ruling out what many considered to be likely evolutionary scenarios for Type IIb supernova (SN IIb). More exotic scenarios that predict the presence of a compact companion (white dwarf, neutron star or black hole) are still possible as well as scenarios where the progenitor of Cas A was single at the moment of explosion (either because it was truly single, or resulted from a binary that was disrupted, or from a binary merger). The presence of a compact companion would imply that Cas A is of interest to study exotic outcomes of binary evolution. The single-at-death solution would still require fine-tuning of the process that removed most of the envelope through a mass-loss mechanism yet to be identified. We discuss how future constraints from Gaia and even deeper photometric studies may help to place further constraints.

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The evolution of red supergiant mass-loss rates

Cited by 63 publications

References 38 publications

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey

The long-lived Type IIn SN 2015da: Infrared echoes and strong interaction within an extended massive shell

No surviving non-compact stellar companion to Cassiopeia A

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