Related papers: Evolved stars at high angular resolution: present …
The two major functions in galaxy evolution that we would like to measure are the stellar populations in galaxies, and their time-derivative, the star formation rate. Especially at redshifts above 1, both of these measures are benefiting…
The current status of the high spatial resolution imaging interferometry in optical astronomy is reviewed in the light of theoretical explanation, as well as of experimental constraints that exist in the present day technology. The basic…
Near-infrared imaging surveys of high-mass star-forming regions reveal an amazingly complex interplay between star formation and the environment (Churchwell et al. 2006; Alvarez et al. 2004). By means of near-IR spectroscopy the embedded…
One of the great challenges in understanding stars is measuring their masses. The best methods for measuring stellar masses include binary interaction, asteroseismology and stellar evolution models, but these methods are not ideal for red…
High-resolution observations by visible and near-infrared interferometers of both single stars and binaries have made significant contributions to the foundations that underpin many aspects of our knowledge of stellar structure and…
The observable characteristics and subsequent evolution of young stellar populations is dominated by their massive stars. As our understanding of those massive stars and the factors affecting their evolution improves, so our interpretation…
The direct images of giant extrasolar planets recently obtained around several main sequence stars represent a major step in the study of planetary systems. These high-dynamic range images are among the most striking results obtained by the…
The long-awaited promise of studying high-redshift galaxies at long wavelengths has been partially eclipsed by progress at optical wavelengths, mostly because of the number of available pixels. It is nonetheless essential to study optically…
It is well established in the local Universe that regions of high star-formation rate are dusty. As a result of this physical causal link, galaxies of increasing current star formation activity emit a larger proportion of their bolometric…
With the construction of the VLTI (Very Large Telescope Interferometer of the European Observatory ESO for the southern hemisphere) it is now possible to make observations with resolutions of the order of milli-arc-seconds, especially in IR…
Convection and turbulence in stellar atmospheres have a significant effect on the emergent flux from late-type stars. The theoretical advancements in convection modelling over recent years have proved challenging for the observers to obtain…
Red supergiants (RSGs) are evolved massive stars in a stage preceding core-collapse supernova. Understanding evolved-phases of these cool stars is key to understanding the cosmic matter cycle of our Universe, since they enrich the cosmos…
The physical structures of the outer atmospheres of red giants are not known. They are certainly complex and a range of recent observations are showing that we need to embrace to non-classical atmosphere models to interpret these regions.…
The study of fundamental properties (such as temperatures, radii, masses, and ages) and interior processes (such as convection and angular momentum transport) of stars has implications on various topics in astrophysics, ranging from the…
(Sub-)mm interferometry is the most favorable technique to investigate the earliest stages of massive star formation. I will outline general applications in that field and discuss results of different sub-topics (hot core chemistry and…
What is long-baseline optical/IR stellar interferometry? A few years ago, many astronomers might not have been able to answer that question properly. This is today hopefully not the case anymore, because mainstream facilities, such as the…
Evolved stars are among the primary sources of chemical enrichment and dust production in galaxies. During the giant phases, stars return a substantial fraction of their mass to the interstellar medium (ISM) through stellar winds, enriching…
Context: Optical interferometry is a powerful tool for observing the intensity structure and angular diameter of stars. When combined with spectroscopy and/or spectrophotometry, interferometry provides a powerful constraint for model…
New facilities and technologies have advanced our understanding of massive stars significantly over the past 30 years. Here I introduce a new large survey of massive stars using VLT-FLAMES, noting the target fields and observed binary…
Infrared imaging properties of dusty winds around late-type stars are investigated in detail, employing a self-consistent model that couples the equations of motion and radiative transfer. Because of general scaling properties, the angular…