Related papers: Betelgeuse and the red supergiants
The nearby red supergiant (RSG) Betelgeuse has a complex circumstellar medium out to at least 0.5 parsecs from its surface, shaped by its mass-loss history within the past 0.1 Myr, its environment, and its motion through the interstellar…
We discuss the physics and the evolution of a typical massive star passing through an evolutionary stage similar to that of Betelgeuse. After a brief introduction recalling various observed parameters of Betelgeuse, we discuss the…
Context. The mass-loss mechanism of cool massive evolved stars is poorly understood. The proximity of Betelgeuse makes it an appealing target to study its atmosphere, map the shape of its envelope, and follow the structure of its wind from…
Understanding convection in red supergiants and the mechanisms that trigger the mass loss from these evolved stars are the general goals of most observations of Betelgeuse and its inner circumstellar environment. Linear spectropolarimetry…
We give here the Table of Contents of the proceedings from the workshop "Red Giants as Probes of the Structure and Evolution of the Milky Way", held in Roma, 15-17 November 2010. Exciting results are blooming, thanks to a convergence…
Stellar limb-darkening is an important tool for constraining the properties of a stellar atmosphere. We present a novel method for relating the fundamental stellar parameters mass and radius to limb-darkening laws using grids of spherical…
We assess the ability to image the photosphere of red supergiants and, in particular Betelgeuse, through the modelling of the observed linear polarization in atomic spectral lines. We also aim to analyse the resulting images over time, to…
The recent pre-print by Saio et al. 2023 argues that the supergiant Betelgeuse is already undergoing carbon burning, based on the assumption that all of its light variations are caused by radial pulsations. However, the angular diameter…
In the past few years, several clusters containing large numbers of red supergiants have been discovered. These clusters are amongst the most massive young clusters known in the Milky Way, with stellar masses reaching a few…
We study stellar models for Betelgeuse using the HR diagram and surface abundances as observational constraints. Previous studies on Betelgeuse have not systematically investigated the surface abundances, but we believe they can be impacted…
The 'Great Dimming' of the prototypical red supergiant Betelgeuse, which occurred between December 2019 and April 2020, gives us unprecedented insight into the processes occurring on the stellar surface and in the inner wind of this type of…
Betelgeuse, the bright, cool red supergiant in Orion, is moving supersonically relative to the local interstellar medium. The star emits a powerful stellar wind which collides with this medium, forming a cometary structure, a bow shock,…
Context: Mass-loss occurring in red supergiants (RSGs) is a major contributor to the enrichment of the interstellar medium in dust and molecules. The physical mechanism of this mass loss is however relatively poorly known. Betelgeuse is the…
We review the significant role played by red supergiants (RSGs) in stellar populations, and some challenges and questions they raise for theoretical stellar evolution. We present how metallicity and rotation modify the way stars go to the…
The Kepler mission observed many thousands of red giants. The long time series, some as long as the mission itself, have allowed us to study red giants with unprecedented detail. Given that red giants are intrinsically luminous, and hence…
The Kepler mission has been a success in both exoplanet search and stellar physics studies. Red giants have actually been quite a highlight in the Kepler scene. The Kepler long and almost continuous four-year observations allowed us to…
The reasons behind the Great Dimming and subsequent rising in the brightness of Betelgeuse between October 2019 and March 2020 still continue to baffle astronomers. It has been shown by George et. al. (2020) that critical slowing down…
We summarize here recent work in identifying and characterizing red supergiants (RSGs) in the galaxies of the Local Group.
Identifications of red supergiants (RSGs) in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies have experienced an exponential increase in recent years, driven by advancements in selection techniques, the continued expansion of archival datasets, and a…
Yellow and red supergiants are evolved massive stars whose numbers and locations on the HR diagram can provide a stringent test for models of massive star evolution. Previous studies have found large discrepancies between the relative…