Related papers: Wind-Blown Bubbles around Evolved Stars
Successful models of the low redshift circumgalactic medium (CGM) must account for (1) a large amount of gas, (2) relatively slow gas velocities, (3) a high degree of metal enrichment, (4) the similar absorption properties around both…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars go through a period of intense mass-loss at the end of their lives in a phase known as the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). During the AGB a significant fraction of their initial mass is expelled in a stellar…
Massive stars play a major role not only in stellar evolution but also galactic evolution theory. This is because of their dynamical interaction with binary companions, and because their strong winds and explosive deaths as supernovae…
The evolution and fate of very massive stars (VMS) is tightly connected to their mass-loss properties. Their initial and final masses differ significantly as a result of mass loss. VMS have strong stellar winds and extremely high ionising…
Stars between about 4 and 25 solar masses spend a significant fraction of their post-main sequence lifetime as red supergiants (RSGs) and lose material via stellar winds during this period. For RSGs more massive than 10 solar masses, this…
Massive stars are the drivers of star formation and galactic dynamics due to their relatively short lives and explosive demises, thus impacting all of astrophysics. Since they are so impactful on their environments, through their winds on…
Most of a star's mass is bound in a hydrostatic equilibrium in which pressure balances gravity. But if at some near-surface layer additional outward forces overcome gravity, this can transition to a supersonic, outflowing wind, with the…
Some studies have claimed a universal stellar upper-mass limit of 150 Msun. A factor that is often overlooked is that there might be a difference between the current and initial masses of the most massive stars, as a result of mass loss. We…
We present modeling research work of the winds and circumstellar environments of prototypical hot and cool massive stars using advanced radiative transfer (RT) calculations. This research aims at unraveling the detailed physics of various…
CONTEXT: The mass loss of He-burning stars, which are partially or completely stripped of their outer hydrogen envelope, is a catalyst of the cosmic matter cycle and decisive ingredient of massive star evolution. Yet, its theoretical…
Current mass-loss rate estimates imply that main sequence winds are not sufficient to strip away the H-rich envelope to yield Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. The rich transitional population of Westerlund 1 (Wd 1) provides an ideal laboratory to…
One of the key questions in Astrophysics concerns the issue of whether there exists an upper-mass limit to stars, and if so, what physical mechanism sets this limit, which might also determine if the upper-mass limit is metallicity (Z)…
Stellar winds contain enough energy to easily disrupt the parent cloud surrounding a nascent star cluster, and for this reason have been considered candidates for regulating star formation. However, direct observations suggest most wind…
We calculate multicomponent radiatively driven stellar wind models suitable for central stars of planetary nebulae. Some of these stellar winds may be adequately modelled using one-component models, however for some of them multicomponent…
We investigate the mass loss of highly evolved, low- and intermediate mass stars and stellar samples with subsolar metallicity. We give a qualitative as well as quantitative description which can be applied to LMC/SMC-type stellar…
It is notoriously difficult to measure the winds of solar-type stars. Traditional spectroscopic and radio continuum techniques are sensitive to mass loss rates at least two to three orders of magnitude stronger than the Sun's relatively…
Mass loss is a crucial component in stellar evolution models, since it largely determines the rate of evolution at the later stages of a star's life. The dust-driven outflows from AGB stars are particularly important in this regard.…
Mass loss is a key physical process in the evolution of massive stars, the impact of which propagates into galactic evolution, population synthesis models, the interpretation of high-redshift galaxies, and explosive events such as…
In this contribution I summarize our current knowledge of the nature and significance of starburst-driven galactic superwinds. These flows are driven primarily by the kinetic energy supplied by supernovae. Superwinds are complex, multiphase…
Massive protostars attain high luminosities as they are actively accreting and the radiation pressure exerted on the gas in the star's atmosphere may launch isotropic high-velocity winds. These winds will collide with the surrounding gas…