Stellar evolution through the Red Supergiant phase
Abstract
Massive stars less massive than ~30 Msol evolve into a red supergiant after the main sequence. Given a standard IMF, this means about 80% of all single massive stars will experience this phase. RSGs are dominated by convection, with a radius that may extend up to thousands of solar radii. Their low temperature and gravity make them prone to lose large amounts of masses, either through a pulsationally-driven wind or through mass-loss outburst. RSGs are the progenitors of the most common core-collapse supernovae, the type II. In the present review, we give an overview of our theoretical understanding about this spectacular phase of massive stars evolution.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2507.15960,
title = {Stellar evolution through the Red Supergiant phase},
author = {Sylvia Ekström and Cyril Georgy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.15960},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
16 pages, 4 figures, invited review published in the Special issue The Red Supergiants: Crucial Signposts for the Fate of Massive Stars