Related papers: Very Massive Stars with the Habitable Worlds Obser…
Stars with masses in excess of 100 Msun are observed in the Local Universe, but they remain rare objects. Because of the shape of the mass function, they are expected to be present only in the most massive and youngest clusters. They may…
Recent studies suggest the existence of very massive stars (VMS) up to 300 solar masses in the local Universe. As this finding may represent a paradigm shift for the canonical stellar upper-mass limit of 150 solar masses, it is timely to…
Recent studies have claimed the existence of very massive stars (VMS) up to 300 solar masses in the local Universe. As this finding may represent a paradigm shift for the canonical stellar upper-mass limit of 150 Msun, it is timely to…
Very massive stars (VMS) up to 200-300 $M_\odot$ have been found in the Local Universe. If they would lose little mass they produce intermediate-mass black holes or pair-instability supernovae (PISNe). Until now, VMS modellers have…
We present a comprehensive analysis of the presence of very massive stars (VMS > $100 M_{\odot}$) in the integrated spectra of 13 UV-bright star-forming galaxies at $2.2 \lesssim z \lesssim 3.6$ taken with the Gran Telescopio Canarias…
The fate of massive stars up to 300 Msun is highly uncertain. Do these objects produce pair-instability explosions, or normal Type Ic supernovae? In order to address these questions, we need to know their mass-loss rates during their lives.…
In addition to being spectacular objects, Very Massive Stars (VMS) are suspected to have a tremendous impact on their environment and on the whole cosmic evolution. The nucleosynthesis both during their advanced stages and their final…
Recent studies of high-redshift galaxies with James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), such as GN-z11 at $z=10.6,$ show unexpectedly significant amounts of nitrogen (N) in their spectra. As this phenomenology appears to extend to gravitionally…
We use contemporary evolutionary models for Very Massive Stars (VMS) to assess whether the Eddington limit constrains the upper stellar mass limit. We also consider the interplay between mass and age for the wind properties and spectral…
While the modern stellar IMF shows a rapid decline with increasing mass, theoretical investigations suggest that very massive stars (>100 solar masses) may have been abundant in the early universe. Other calculations also indicate that,…
Recent studies of high-redshift galaxies using JWST, such as GN-z11 revealed highly elevated levels of nitrogen (N). This phenomenon extends to gravitationally-lensed galaxies like the Sunburst Arc at z = 2.37, as well as to globular…
Massive stars are those stars with initial masses above about 8 times that of the sun, eventually leading to catastrophic explosions in the form of supernovae. These represent the most massive and luminous stellar component of the Universe,…
Very massive stars (VMSs, $M_{\star}$ $\geq$ 100 M$_{\odot}$) play a crucial role in several astrophysical processes. At low metallicity, they might collapse directly into black holes, or end their lives as pair-instability supernovae.…
The most massive stars dominate the chemical enrichment, mechanical and radiative feedback, and energy budget of their host environments. Yet how massive stars initially form and how they evolve throughout their lives is ambiguous. The mass…
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 examine the possibility that very massive stars greatly exceeding the commonly adopted stellar mass limit of 150 Msun may be present in young star clusters in the local universe. We identify ten candidate clusters, some of which may host…
We describe observations in the nearby universe (<100 Mpc) with a 10-m or larger space-based telescope having imaging and spectral capabilities in the range 912-9000 \AA that would enable advances in the fields of massive stars, young…
We present new evolutionary models of primordial very massive stars, with initial masses ranging from $100\,\mathrm{{M}_{\odot}}$ to $1000\,\mathrm{{M}_{\odot}}$, that extend from the main sequence until the onset of dynamical instability…
The theory underlying the evolution and death of stars heavier than 10 Msun on the main sequence is reviewed with an emphasis upon stars much heavier than 30 Msun. These are stars that, in the absence of substantial mass loss, are expected…
Massive stars play a fundamental role in shaping the evolution of galaxies through feedback, chemical enrichment, and their end products as neutron stars and black holes. Despite major progress in the last decade, key uncertainties remain…