Related papers: Extragalactic Stellar Astronomy with the Brightest…
Blue Supergiants (BSGs) are the brightest stars in the universe at visual light with absolute magnitudes up to Mv=-10 mag. They are ideal stellar objects for the determination of extragalactic distances, in particular, because the perennial…
Measuring distances to galaxies, determining their chemical composition, investigating the nature of their stellar populations and the absorbing properties of their interstellar medium are fundamental activities in modern extragalactic…
Because of their enormous intrinsic brightness blue supergiants are ideal stellar objects to be studied spectroscopically as individuals in galaxies far beyond the Local Group. Quantitative spectroscopy by means of efficient multi-object…
The present generation of large telescopes facilitates spectroscopy of blue supergiants in galaxies out to distances beyond the Local Group. Recent developments in NLTE spectrum synthesis techniques allow for an accurate determination of…
Blue supergiant stars can be exceptionally bright objects in the optical, making them prime targets for the determination of extragalactic distances. I describe how their photometric and spectroscopic properties can be calibrated to provide…
(abridged) 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 = Teff^4. BSG are the brightest stars in the…
In modern cosmology, determining the Hubble constant (H0) using distance ladder to percent level and comparing with the results from Planck satellite can shed light on the nature of the dark energy, the physics of neutrino, and the…
Blue supergiant stars of B and A spectral types are amongst the visually brightest non-transient astronomical objects. Their intrinsic brightness makes it possible to obtain high quality optical spectra of these objects in distant galaxies,…
Despite their paucity, massive hot stars are real cosmic engines of fundamental importance in shaping our Universe, from its very early stages up to its current appearance. Understanding the physics of massive stars is then a key issue for…
Red Supergiants (RSGs) are cool (~4000K), highly luminous stars (L - 10^5 Lsun), and are among the brightest near-infrared (NIR) sources in star-forming galaxies. This makes them powerful probes of the properties of their host galaxies,…
Blue supergiants of spectral types B and A are the visually brightest stars in spiral and irregular galaxies, with their most luminous members (at M_V=-10) outshining entire dwarf galaxies. This characteristic allows us to use them as…
This paper shows a technique for searching for bright massive stars in galaxies beyond the Local Group. To search for massive stars, we used the results of stellar photometry of the Hubble Space Telescope images using the DAOPHOT and…
Stellar evolution calculations predict the flux-weighted gravity g/Teff^4 and absolute bolometric magnitude of blue supergiants to be strongly correlated. We use medium resolution multi-object spectroscopy of late B and early A supergiants…
The quantitative spectral analysis of medium resolution optical spectra of A and B supergiants obtained with DEIMOS and ESI at the Keck Telescopes is used to determine a distance modulus of 24.93 +/- 0.11 mag for the Triangulum Galaxy M33.…
Multi-object spectroscopic observations of blue supergiants in NGC 3621, a spiral galaxy at a distance of 6.7 Mpc, carried out with the ESO VLT and FORS are presented. We demonstrate the feasibility of quantitative stellar spectroscopy at…
Red Supergiants (RSGs) are among the brightest stars in the local universe, making them ideal candidates with which to probe the properties of their host galaxies. However, current quantitative spectroscopic techniques require spectral…
Red supergiants are the largest stars known with some of the highest mass loss rates observed. They are the final stage in the evolution of the majority of massive stars. The unexpected discovery of high mass loss episodes in many red…
High quality spectra of 90 blue supergiant stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud are analyzed with respect to effective temperature, gravity, metallicity, reddening, extinction and extinction law. An average metallicity, based on Fe and Mg…
Red supergiants (RSGs) are an evolved stage in the life of intermediate massive stars (than than 25 solar masses). For many years, their location in the H-R diagram was at variance with the evolutionary models. Using the MARCS stellar…
Red supergiants (RSGs) are an evolved He-burning phase in the lifetimes of moderately high mass (10 - 25 solar mass) stars. The physical properties of these stars mark them as an important and extreme stage of massive stellar evolution, but…