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Register a new userA Bake-Off Between CMFGEN and FASTWIND: Modeling the Physical Properties of SMC and LMC O-type Stars
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The model atmosphere programs FASTWIND and CMFGEN are both elegantly designed to perform non-LTE analyses of the spectra of hot massive stars, and include sphericity and mass-loss. The two codes differ primarily in their approach towards line blanketing, with CMFGEN treating all of the lines in the co-moving frame and FASTWIND taking an approximate approach which speeds up execution times considerably. Although both have been extensively used to model the spectra of O-type stars, no studies have used the codes to independently model the same spectra of the same stars and compare the derived physical properties. We perform this task on ten O-type stars in the Magellanic Clouds. For the late-type O supergiants, both CMFGEN and FASTWIND have trouble fitting some of the He I lines, and we discuss causes and cures. We find that there is no difference in the average effective temperatures found by the two codes for the stars in our sample, although the dispersion is large, due primarily to the various difficulties each code has with He I. The surface gravities determined using FASTWIND are systematically lower by 0.12 dex compared to CMFGEN, a result we attribute to the better treatment of electron scattering by CMFGEN. This has implications for the interpretation of the origin of the so-called mass discrepancy, as the masses derived by FASTWIND are on average lower than inferred from stellar evolutionary models, while those found by CMFGEN are in better agreement.
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We use a combination of VJHK and Spitzer} [3.6], [5.8] and [8.0] photometry, to determine IR excesses in a sample of LMC and SMC O stars. This sample is ideal for determining excesses because: 1) the distances to the stars, and hence their luminosities, are well-determined, and; 2) the very small line of sight reddenings minimize the uncertainties introduced by extinction corrections. We find IR excesses much larger than expected from Vink et al. (2001) mass loss rates. This is in contrast to previous wind line analyses for many of the LMC stars which suggest mass loss rates much less than the Vink et al. predictions. ogether, these results indicate that the winds of the LMC and SMC O stars are strongly structured (clumped).
Based on their stellar parameters and the presence of a mid-IR excess due to circumstellar dust, RV Tauri stars have been classified as post-AGB stars. Our recent studies, however, reveal diverse SEDs among RV Tauri stars, suggesting they may occupy other evolutionary channels as well. The aim of this paper is to present the diverse SED characteristics of RV Tauri stars and investigate their evolutionary nature as a function of their SEDs. We carried out a systematic study of RV Tauri stars in the SMC and LMC because of their known distances and hence luminosities. Their SEDs were classified in three groups: dusty (disc-type), non-dusty (non-IR) and uncertain. A period-luminosity- colour (PLC) relation was calibrated. The luminosities from the PLC were complemented with the ones found using their SEDs and the stars were placed on the HR-diagram. The four main results from this study are: 1) RV Tauri stars with a clear IR-excess have disc-type SEDs, which indicates that the dust is trapped in a stable disc. Given the strong link between disc-type SEDs and binarity in the Galaxy, we postulate that these are binaries as well. These cover a range of luminosities and we argue that the more luminous ones are post-AGB stars while the lower luminosity ones are likely post-Red Giant Branch (post-RGB) stars. 2) Two of these objects have variable mean brightness with periods of 916 and 850 days, respectively, caused by variable extinction during orbital motion. 3) The non-dusty RV Tauri stars and the objects with an uncertain SED evolve such that the circumstellar dust has dispersed. If they are single stars, they are post-AGB objects of low initial mass ($<$ 1.25 M$_odot$), while if they are binaries, the low-luminosity part of the sample are likely post-RGB stars. 4) We find that RV Tauri stars with dust are on average more luminous than the rest of the sample.
We present an analysis of the stellar kinematics of the Large Magellanic Cloud based on ~5900 new and existing velocities of massive red supergiants, oxygen-rich and carbon-rich AGB stars, and other giants. After correcting the line-of-sight velocities for the LMCs space motion and accounting for asymmetric drift in the AGB population, we derive a rotation curve that is consistent with all of the tracers used, as well as that of published HI data. The amplitude of the rotation curve is v_0=87+/-5 km s^-1 beyond a radius R_0=2.4+/-0.1 kpc, and has a position angle of the kinematic line of nodes of theta=142 degrees +/-5 degrees. By examining the outliers from our fits, we identify a population of 376 stars, or >~5% of our sample, that have line-of-sight velocities that apparently oppose the sense of rotation of the LMC disk. We find that these kinematically distinct stars are either counter-rotating in a plane closely aligned with the LMC disk, or rotating in the same sense as the LMC disk, but in a plane that is inclined by 54 degrees +/- 2 degrees to the LMC. Their kinematics clearly link them to two known HI arms, which have previously been interpreted as being pulled out from the LMC. We measure metallicities from the Ca triplet lines of ~1000 LMC field stars and 30 stars in the kinematically distinct population. For the LMC field, we find a median [Fe/H]=-0.56 +/- 0.02 with dispersion of 0.5 dex, while for the kinematically distinct stars the median [Fe/H] is -1.25 +/- 0.13 with a dispersion of 0.7 dex. The metallicity differences provide strong evidence that the kinematically distinct population originated in the SMC. This interpretation has the consequence that the HI arms kinematically associated with the stars are likely falling into the LMC, instead of being pulled out.
We present first results from the quantitative spectroscopic analysis of 266 Galactic O-type stars targeted by the IACOB and OWN surveys (implying the largest sample of stars of this type analyzed homogeneously). We also evaluate what is the present situation regarding available information about distances, as provided by the Hipparcos and Gaia missions.
Massive stars play a key role in the evolution of the Universe. Our goal is to compare observed and predicted properties of single Galactic O stars to identify and constrain uncertain physical parameters and processes in stellar evolution and atmosphere models. We used a sample of 53 objects with spectral types from O3 to O9.7. For 30 of these, we determined the main photospheric and wind parameters, using optical spectroscopy and applying the FASTWIND code. For the remaining objects, literature data, obtained by means of the CMFGEN code, were used instead. The properties of our sample were compared to published predictions based on two grids evolution models that include rotationally induced mixing. Within each luminosity class, we find a close correlation of N surface abundance and luminosity, and a stronger N enrichment in more massive and evolved O stars. Additionally, a correlation of the surface nitrogen and helium abundances is observed. The large number of nitrogen-enriched stars above ~30 solar masses argues for rotationally induced mixing as the most likely explanation. However, none of the considered models can match the observed trends correctly, especially in the high mass regime. We confirm mass discrepancy for objects in the low mass O-star regime. We conclude that the rotationally induced mixing of helium to the stellar surface is too strong in some of the models. We also suggest that present inadequacies of the models to represent the N enrichment in more massive stars with relatively slow rotation might be related to problematic efficiencies of rotational mixing. We are left with a picture in which invoking binarity and magnetic fields is required to achieve a more complete agreement of the observed surface properties of a population of massive main- sequence stars with corresponding evolutionary models.
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