Related papers: The Complex Upper HR Diagram
How massive stars end their lives remains an open question in the field of star evolution. While the majority of stars above 9 M_sun will become red supergiants (RSGs), the terminal state of these massive stars can be heavily influenced by…
We present HR Diagrams for the massive star populations in M31 and M33 including several different types of emission-line stars: the confirmed Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), candidate LBVs, B[e] supergiants and the warm hypergiants. We…
Red supergiants are the largest stars known with some of the highest mass loss rates observed. They are the final stage in the evolution of the majority of massive stars. The unexpected discovery of high mass loss episodes in many red…
In this paper, we discuss some consequences of rotation and mass loss on the evolved stages of massive star evolution. The physical reasons of the time evolution of the surface velocity are explained, and then we show how the late-time…
I provide an overview of the empirical mass-loss rates of hot and cool luminous stars. Stellar species included in this talk are luminous OB stars, Wolf-Rayet stars, asymptotic giant branch stars, and red supergiants. I discuss the scaling…
The most massive stars, with initial masses above ~50M_sun, encounter a phase of extreme mass loss - sometimes accompanied by so-called giant eruptions - in which the stars' evolution is reversed from a redward to a blueward motion in the…
Both pulsation and mass loss are commonly observed in stars and are important ingredients for understanding stellar evolution and structure, especially for massive stars. There is a growing body of evidence that pulsation can also drive and…
In this paper we present new models of massive stars based on recent advancements in the theory of diffusive mixing and a new empirical formulation of the mass-loss rates of red supergiant stars. We compute two sets of stellar models of…
We review potential mass-loss mechanisms in the various evolutionary stages of massive stars, from the well-known line-driven winds of O-stars and BA-supergiants to the less-understood winds from Red Supergiants. We discuss optically thick…
The post main-sequence evolution of massive stars is very sensitive to many parameters of the stellar models. Key parameters are the mixing processes, the metallicity, the mass-loss rate and the effect of a close companion. We study how the…
Observing the stars in our night sky tells us that giant, supergiant and hypergiant stars hold an unique importance in the understanding of stellar populations. Theoretical stellar models predict a rich tapestry of evolved stars. These…
I present the results of radiation-driven mass-loss predictions for hot stars of all mass. Mass loss is an important aspect for the evolution of massive stars, the rotational properties of the progenitors of gamma-ray bursts, and is…
We discuss the role of mass loss for the evolution of the most massive stars, highlighting the role of the predicted bi-stability jump that might be relevant for the evolution of rotational velocities during or just after the main sequence.…
The star-forming galaxies of the Local Group act as our laboratories for testing massive star evolutionary models. In this review, I briefly summarize what we believe we know about massive star evolution, and the connection between OB…
The aim of this paper is to look at the evolution of massive stars in order to determine whether or not the progenitor of V838 Mon may be a massive star. In the first part of this paper, the evolution of massive stars around solar…
Stellar evolution theory is most uncertain for massive stars. For reliable predictions of the evolution of massive stars and their final fate, solid constraints on the physical parameters, and their changes along the evolution and in…
Massive stars have strong stellar winds that direct their evolution through the upper Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and determine the black hole mass function. Secondly, wind strength dictates the atmospheric structure that sets the ionising…
The identification of stellar-mass black-hole mergers with up to 80 Msun as powerful sources of gravitational wave radiation led to increased interest in the physics of the most massive stars. The largest sample of possible progenitors of…
Massive evolved stars loss a large fraction of their mass via copious stellar wind or instant outbursts and during certain evolutionary phases they can be identified via the presence of their circumstellar nebulae. In this paper, we present…
Mass loss dominates the stellar evolution on the Asymptotic Giant Branch. The phase of highest mass-loss occurs during the last 1--10\% of the AGB and includes the so-called Miras and OH/IR stars. In this review I will discuss the…