Related papers: Subluminous O Stars - Origin and Evolutionary Link…

A large population of fragile, wide (> 1000 AU) binary systems exists in the Galactic field and halo. These wide binary stars cannot be primordial because of the high stellar density in star forming regions, while formation by capture in…

In this paper, we investigate the link between the hypervelocity stars (HVSs) discovered in the Galactic halo and the S-stars moving in the Galactic center (GC), under the hypothesis that they are both the products of the tidal breakup of…

(Abridged) The origin of hot subdwarf O-type stars (sdOs) remains unclear since their discovery in 1947. Among others, a post-Asymptotic Giant Branch (post-AGB) origin is possible for a fraction of sdOs. We are involved in a comprehensive…

Massive stars that lose their hydrogen-rich envelope down to a few tenths of a solar mass explode as extended type IIb supernovae, an intriguing subtype that links the hydrogen-rich type II supernovae with the hydrogen-poor type Ib and Ic.…

Globular clusters contain many stars with surface abundance patterns indicating contributions from hydrogen burning products, as seen in the anti-correlated elemental abundances of e.g. sodium and oxygen, and magnesium and aluminium.…

Subdwarf B (sdB) stars form the blue end of the horizonal branch. Their peculiar atmospheric abundance patterns are due to diffusion processes. However, diffusion models fail to explain these anomalies quantitatively. From a NLTE model…

UV observations of some massive globular clusters have revealed a significant population of stars hotter and fainter than the hot end of the horizontal branch (HB), the so-called blue hook stars. This feature might be explained either by…

Recent surveys have identified seven hypervelocity stars (HVSs) in the halo of the Milky Way. Most of these stars may have originated from the breakup of binary star systems by the nuclear black hole SgrA*. In some instances, the breakup of…

After the discovery of a substellar companion to the hot subdwarf HD 149382, we have started a radial velocity search for similar objects around other bright sdB stars using the Anglo-Australian Telescope. Our aim is to test the hypothesis…

Helium-rich hot subdwarf stars of spectral type O (He-sdO) are considered prime candidates for stellar merger remnants. Such events should lead to the generation of strong magnetic fields. However, no magnetic He-sdO has yet been…

Hot subdwarf stars represent a late and peculiar stage in the evolution of low-mass stars, because they are likely formed by close binary interactions. Here we performed a radial velocity (RV) variability study of a sample of 646 hot…

Helium abundances and atmospheric parameters have been determined from high resolution spectra for a new sample of 46 bright hot subdwarf B (sdB) stars. The helium abundances have been measured with high accuracy. We confirm the correlation…

We follow the evolution of disk galaxies within a cluster that forms hierarchically in a standard cold dark matter N-body simulation. At a redshift z=0.5 we select several dark matter halos that have quiet merger histories and are about to…

UV observations of some massive globular clusters uncovered a significant population of very hot stars below the hot end of the horizontal branch (HB), the so-called blue hook stars. This feature might be explained either as results of the…

Context. Metal-poor massive stars are supposed to be progenitors of certain supernovae, gamma-ray bursts and compact object mergers, potentially contributing to the early epochs of the Universe with their strong ionizing radiation. However,…

Masses for 664 single-lined hot subdwarf stars identified in LAMOST were calculated by comparing synthetic fluxes from spectral energy distribution (SED) with observed fluxes from virtual observatory service. Three groups of hot subdwarf…

The most commonly accepted explanation for the origin of hypervelocity stars in the halo of the Milky Way is that they are the result of tidal disruption of binaries by the massive black hole at the center of the Galaxy. We show that, if…

In latest years, the high sensitivity of the instruments on-board the XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites allowed us to explore the properties of the X-ray emission from hot subdwarf stars. The small but growing sample of X-ray detected hot…

Young stars observed in the distant Galactic halo are usually thought to have formed elsewhere, either in the Galactic disk or perhaps the Galactic center, and subsequently ejected at high velocities to their current position. However, some…

We review the X-ray observations of hot subdwarf stars. While no X-ray emission has been detected yet from binaries containing B-type subdwarfs, interesting results have been obtained in the case of the two luminous O-type subdwarfs HD…