Related papers: Constraining GRB progenitor models by probing Wolf…
Aims: Recent theoretical predictions for the winds of Wolf-Rayet stars indicate that their mass-loss rates scale with the initial stellar metallicity in the local Universe.We aim to investigate how this predicted dependence affects the…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are known to have the most relativistic jets, with initial Lorentz factors in the order of a few hundreds. Many GRBs display an early X-ray light-curve plateau, which was not theoretically expected and therefore…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the most advanced stage in the evolution of the most massive stars. The strong feedback provided by these objects and their subsequent supernova (SN) explosions are decisive for a variety of astrophysical topics…
As part of a multi-year survey for Wolf-Rayet stars in the Magellanic Clouds, we have discovered a new type of Wolf-Rayet star with both strong emission and absorption. While one might initially classify these stars as WN3+O3V binaries…
Long gamma-ray bursts (lGRB) are produced by relativistic jets arising from the collapse of massive stars. Such progenitor environments present complex physical conditions that are challenging to model by numerical simulations. The…
Classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are at a crucial evolutionary stage for constraining the fates of massive stars. The feedback of these hot, hydrogen-depleted stars dominates their surrounding by tremendous injections of ionizing radiation…
We investigate Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars as a source of feedback contributing to the removal of natal material in the early evolution of massive star clusters. Despite previous work suggesting that massive star clusters clear out their natal…
Due to their extreme luminosities, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) can be detected in hostile regions of galaxies, nearby and at very high redshift, making them important cosmological probes. The investigation of galaxies hosting long-duration GRBs…
Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) are classified as long (LGRBs) and short (SGRBs) with collapsars and compact object mergers (neutron star (NS)-NS or NS-Black hole) as progenitors, respectively. The former are expected to follow the cosmic star…
Galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) star membership of star forming regions can be used to constrain the formation environments of massive stars. Here, we utilise $\textit{Gaia}$ DR2 parallaxes and proper motions to reconsider WR star membership of…
Recent results with the Potsdam Wolf-Rayet (PoWR) models have shown that Wolf-Rayet mass loss can be explained by radiative wind driving. An inspection of the galactic WR sample, however, reveals that a significant part of the observed WR…
Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are ultra-relativistic collimated outflows, which emit synchrotron radiation throughout the entire electromagnetic spectrum when they interact with their environment. This afterglow emission enables us to probe the…
Although there is strong support for the collapsar engine as the power source of long-duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), we still do not definitively know the progenitor of these explosions. Here we review the current set of progenitor…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) galaxies are a rare population of galaxies that host living high-mass stars during their WR phase (i.e. WR stars) and are thus expected to provide interesting constraints on the stellar Initial Mass Function, massive star…
The detection of supernova features in the late spectra of several gamma-ray burst afterglows has shown that at least a fraction of long-duration gamma-ray bursts are associated to the final evolutionary stages of massive stars. Such direct…
The association of long gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) with star forming regions and the idea of massive stars as progenitors of GRBs are widely accepted. Because of their short lifetimes, it is very likely that massive stars are still embedded in…
We have performed a pilot study of mass loss predictions for late-type Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars as a function of metal abundance, over a range between 10^{-5} < (Z/Zsun) < 10. We find that the winds of nitrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet stars are…
We review our current understanding of the progenitors of both long and short duration gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Constraints can be derived from multiple directions, and we use three distinct strands; i) direct observations of GRBs and their…
We present new results obtained with the VLT GIRAFFE for a large sample of B and Be stars belonging to the Magellanic Clouds, i.e. at low metallicity. First, we show the effects of the metallicity of the environment on their rotation…
We summarize past and current surveys for Wolf-Rayet stars among the Local Group galaxies, emphasizing both the how and the why. Such studies are invaluable for helping us learn about massive star evolution, and for providing sensitive…