Related papers: Molecules and Chemistry in Red Supergiants
Red supergiants (RSGs) are a He-burning phase in the evolution of moderately high mass stars (10-25 solar masses). The evolution of these stars, particularly at low metallicities, is still poorly understood. The latest-type RSGs in the…
In the first weeks-to-months of a type II-P supernova (SN), the spectrum formation region is within the hydrogen-rich envelope of the exploding star. Optical spectra taken within a few days of the SN explosion, when the photosphere is hot,…
Emission and absorption line observations of molecules in late-type stars are a vital component in our understanding of stellar evolution, dust formation and mass loss in these objects. The molecular composition of the gas in the…
B[e] Supergiants are a phase in the evolution of some massive stars for which we have observational evidence but no predictions by any stellar evolution model. The mass-loss during this phase creates a complex circumstellar environment with…
We present the evolution of low mass and low metallicity RGB models computed under the assumption of deep mixing between the convective envelope and the hydrogen burning shell. We discuss the helium enrichment of the envelope which is…
During their thermally pulsing phase, Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars eject material that forms extended dusty envelopes. Visible polarimetric imaging found clumpy dust clouds within two stellar radii of several oxygen-rich stars.…
Galaxies are surrounded by extended gaseous halos which store significant fractions of chemical elements. These are syntethized by the stellar populations and later ejected into the circumgalactic medium (CGM) by different mechanism, of…
We present high-resolution HST WFPC2 images of compact nebulosity surrounding the cool M-type hypergiants NML Cyg, VX Sgr and S Per. The powerful OH/IR source NML Cyg exhibits a peculiar bean-shaped asymmetric nebula that is coincident with…
While most galaxies live in group environments where they undergo an accelerated evolution, the characteristics of their circumgalactic medium (CGM) remain uncertain. We present an analysis of the CGM of two galaxy groups in different…
Massive star-forming regions exhibit an extremely rich and diverse chemistry, which in principle provides a wealth of molecular probes, as well as laboratories for interstellar prebiotic chemistry. Since the chemical structure of these…
The Galactic Centre (GC) has experienced a high degree of recent star-forming activity, as evidenced by the large number of massive stars currently residing there. The relative abundances of chemical elements in the GC may provide insights…
In order to understand galaxy evolution through cosmic times it is critical to derive the properties of the molecular gas content of galaxies, i.e. the material out of which stars ultimately form. The last decade has seen rapid progress in…
B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) are evolved massive stars in a short-lived transition phase. During this phase, these objects eject large amounts of material, which accumulates in a circumstellar disk-like structure. The expelled material is…
Condensation of circumstellar dust begins with formation of molecular clusters close to the stellar photosphere. These clusters are predicted to act as condensation cores at lower temperatures and allow efficient dust formation farther away…
Red Supergiants (RSGs) are cool (~4000K), highly luminous stars (L - 10^5 Lsun), and are among the brightest near-infrared (NIR) sources in star-forming galaxies. This makes them powerful probes of the properties of their host galaxies,…
The inevitable fate of massive stars in the initial mass range of ~8--30 M_{Sun} in the red supergiant (RSG) phase is a core-collapse supernova (SN) explosion, although some stars may collapse directly to a black hole. We know that this is…
We present a model for the CO molecular line emission from high redshift Submillimeter Galaxies (SMGs). By combining hydrodynamic simulations of gas rich galaxy mergers with the polychromatic radiative transfer code, Sunrise, and the 3D…
A spectral line survey of the oxygen-rich red supergiant VY Canis Majoris was made between 279 and 355 GHz with the Submillimeter Array. Two hundred twenty three spectral features from 19 molecules (not counting isotopic species of some of…
Stars with masses between 1 and 8 solar masses (M$_\odot$) lose large amounts of material in the form of gas and dust in the late stages of stellar evolution, during their Asymptotic Giant Branch phase. Such stars supply up to 35% of the…
Complex organic molecules are ubiquitous companions of young low-mass protostars. Recent observations suggest that their emission stems, not only from the traditional hot corino, but also from offset positions. In this work, 2D…