Related papers: The Galactic WC stars: Stellar parameters from spe…
The total population of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars in the Galaxy is predicted by models to be as many as $\sim$6000 stars, and yet the number of catalogued WR stars as a result of optical surveys was far lower than this ($\sim$200) at the turn…
In this chapter, after a brief introduction and overview of stellar evolution, we discuss the evolution and nucleosynthesis of very massive stars (VMS: M>100 solar masses) in the context of recent stellar evolution model calculations. This…
We study in detail the evolution of two massive stars at solar metallicity ($Z=0.014$), by calculating their final masses, radial expansion, and chemical enrichment. We run evolutionary models for initial masses 60 and 200 $M_\odot$, using…
Radiation-driven winds heavily influence the evolution and fate of massive stars. Feedback processes from these winds impact the properties of the interstellar medium of their host galaxies. The dependence of mass loss on stellar properties…
Observations have shown that the effective temperature of hydrogen-free Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars is considerably lower than that of the standard model, which means that the radius of the observed H-free WR stars is several times larger than…
Very massive stars (VMS) dominate the light of young stellar populations and are sources of intense stellar feedback. Their evolution is mainly driven by strong wind mass loss, yet current evolution models make simplistic assumptions on…
We measure transverse proper motion velocities of LMC Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars using Gaia DR3 astrometry. The combined velocity distribution of WNh, O If*/WN, and WNL very massive stars ($>100\ M_\odot$; VMS) shows both slow, unejected objects…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the evolutionary phases of very massive stars prior to the final supernova explosion stage. These stars lose substantial mass during WN and WC stages. The mass losses are associated with diverse elemental and…
We present HST/STIS Ultraviolet spectra of the six known Ofpe/WN9 stars (``slash stars'') in M33. These stars were selected for showing the characteristics of the Ofpe/WN9 class from previous optical ground-based spectroscopy. The UV…
We review the properties of massive star evolution in different environments, where the major environmental factor is metallicity. Comparisons between evolutionary models and observations of massive OB, WR stars and related objects are…
Massive Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars comprise a spectroscopic class characterized by high temperatures (Teff > ~30 kK) and powerful and rapid stellar winds. Hydrogen-rich WR stars represent the most massive stars in existence (M > ~100 Msun),…
Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are helium-burning, evolved massive stars which have had most of their hydrogen-rich outer layers removed either through stellar winds and/or binary stripping. Here we report on LMC173-1, a WN3+O binary located in the…
During their dynamical evolution, Galactic open clusters (OCs) gradually lose their stellar content mainly because of internal relaxation and tidal forces. In this context, the study of dynamically evolved OCs is necessary to properly…
The fast, dense winds which characterize Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars obscure their underlying cores, and complicate the verification of evolving core and nucleosynthesis models. Core evolution can be probed by measuring abundances of wind-borne…
A remarkable span of frontier astrophysics, from gravitational-wave archaeology to the origin of the elements to interpreting snapshots of the earliest galaxies, depends sensitively on our understanding of massive star formation and…
Mass-loss from massive stars is fundamental to stellar and galactic evolution and enrichment of the interstellar medium. Reliable determination of mass-loss rate is dependent upon unravelling details of massive star outflows, including…
Photometry at 3.4 and 4.6 micron of 128 Population~I WC type Wolf-Rayet stars in the Galaxy and 12 in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) observed in the WISE NEOWISE-R survey was searched for evidence of circumstellar dust emission and its…
Stars mostly form in groups consisting of a few dozen to several ten thousand members. For 30 years, theoretical models provide a basic concept of how such star clusters form and develop: they originate from the gas and dust of collapsing…
Using the latest stellar evolution models, theoretical stellar spectra, and a compilation of observed emission line strengths from Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars, we construct evolutionary synthesis models for young starbursts. We explicitly…
The winds of massive stars remove a significant fraction of their mass, strongly impacting their evolution. As a star evolves, the rate at which it loses mass changes. In stellar evolution codes, different mass-loss recipes are employed for…