Related papers: The massive binary population of the starburst clu…
The formation, properties, and evolution of massive stars remain subject to considerable uncertainty; impacting on fields as diverse as galactic feedback and the nature of the progenitors of both electromagnetic and gravitational wave…
Multiwavelength observations of the young massive cluster Westerlund 1 have revealed evidence for a large number of OB supergiant and Wolf-Rayet binaries. However, in most cases these findings are based on secondary binary characteristics…
Observational studies suggest that many OB stars are found within binary systems which may be expected to interact during their lifetimes. Significant mass transfer or merger of both components will modify evolutionary pathways,…
This paper presents the first optical variability study of the Westerlund 1 super star cluster in search of massive eclipsing binary systems. A total of 129 new variable stars have been identified, including the discovery of 4 eclipsing…
Westerlund 1 is one of the most massive young clusters known in the Local Group, with an age of 3-5 Myr. It contains an assortment of rare evolved massive stars, such as blue, yellow and red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, a luminous blue…
There is growing evidence that a treatment of binarity amongst OB stars is essential for a full theory of stellar evolution. However the binary properties of massive stars - frequency, mass ratio and orbital separation - are still poorly…
The galactic cluster Westerlund 1 contains a rich population of evolved, massive stars, and a high binary fraction has been inferred from previous multiwavelength observations. We use multi-epoch spectroscopy of a large sample of early-type…
We present fundamental parameters of 4 massive eclipsing binaries in the young massive cluster Westerlund 1. The goal is to measure accurate masses and radii of their component stars, which provide much needed constraints for evolutionary…
Despite the first detection of X-rays from massive stars occurring four decades ago, the physical dependence of the emission mechanism(s) on the underlying stellar and binary properties of the emitters remains uncertain. The young massive…
High-dynamic range radio observations of Westerlund 1 are presented that detect a total of 21 stars in the young massive stellar cluster, the richest population of radio emitting stars known for any young massive galactic cluster in the…
Because of their large number of stars spread over the entire stellar mass spectrum, starburst clusters are highly suitable to benchmark and calibrate star formation models and theories. Among the handful of Galactic starburst clusters,…
Only a small number of high mass stars (> 30 Mo) have fundamental parameters (i.e. masses and radii) measured with high enough accuracy from eclipsing binaries to constrain formation and evolutionary models of massive stars. This work aims…
Westerlund 1 is a young, massive Galactic starburst cluster that contains a rich coeval population of Wolf-Rayet stars, hot- and cool-phase transitional supergiants, and a magnetar. We use spectroscopic and photometric observations of the…
Massive stars play an important role in both cluster and galactic evolution and the rate at which they lose mass is a key driver of both their own evolution and their interaction with the environment up to and including their SNe…
Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) is one of the most relevant star clusters in the Milky Way to study massive star formation, although it is still poorly known. Here, we used photometric and spectroscopic data to model the eclipsing binary W36, showing…
We present new low and intermediate-resolution spectroscopic observations of the Wolf Rayet (WR) star population in the massive starburst cluster Westerlund 1. Finding charts are presented for five new WRs - four WNL and one WCL - raising…
Recent optical and IR studies have revealed that the heavily-reddened starburst cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) contains at least 22 Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, comprising the richest WR population of any galactic cluster. We present results of a…
Current mass-loss rate estimates imply that main sequence winds are not sufficient to strip away the H-rich envelope to yield Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. The rich transitional population of Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) provides an ideal laboratory to…
The diverse massive stellar population in the young massive cluster Westerlund 1 (Wd~1) provides an ideal laboratory to observe and constrain mass-loss processes throughout the transitional phase of massive star evolution. A set of high…
The location of the supergiant (sg)B[e] star Wd1-9 within the coeval starburst cluster Westerlund 1 allows for its placement in a detailed post-Main Sequence evolutionary scheme and hence we have utilised a comprehensive multiwavelength…