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Register a new userMass loss rates inferred from mid-IR color excesses of LMC and SMC O stars
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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).
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Recent observations of the high-mass X-ray binary Cygnus X-1 have shown that both the companion star (41 solar masses) and the black hole (21 solar masses) are more massive than previously estimated. Furthermore, the black hole appears to be nearly maximally spinning. Here we present a possible formation channel for the Cygnus X-1 system that matches the observed system properties. In this formation channel, we find that the orbital parameters of Cygnus X-1, combined with the observed metallicity of the companion, imply a significant reduction in mass loss through winds relative to commonly used prescriptions for stripped stars.
Second only to initial mass, the rate of wind-driven mass loss determines the final mass of a massive star and the nature of its remnant. Motivated by the need to reconcile observational values and theory, we use a recently vetted technique to analyze the mass-loss rates in a sample of OB stars that generate bowshock nebulae. We measure peculiar velocities from new Gaia parallax and proper motion data and their spectral types from new optical and infrared spectroscopy. For our sample of 67 central stars in morphologically selected bowshocks nebulae, 67 are OB stars. The median peculiar velocity is 11 km/s, significantly smaller than classical `runaway star velocities. Mass-loss rates for these O and early B stars agree with recently lowered theoretical predictions, ranging from ~10^-7 Msun/yr for mid-O dwarfs to 10^-9 Msun/yr for late-O dwarfs---a factor of about 2.7 lower than the often-used Vink et al. (2001) formulation. Our results provide the first observational mass-loss rates for B0--B3 dwarfs and giants---10^-9 to 10^-8 Msun/yr. We find evidence for an increase in the mass-loss rates below a critical effective temperature, consistent with predictions of the bi-stability phenomenon in the range Teff=19,000--27,000 K. The sample exhibits a correlation between modified wind momentum and luminosity, consistent in slope but lower by 0.43 dex in magnitude compared to canonical wind-luminosity relations. We identify a small subset of objects deviating most significantly from theoretical expectations as probable radiation-driven bow wave nebulae by virtue of their low stellar-to-nebular luminosity ratios. For these, the inferred mass-loss rates must be regarded as upper limits.
We investigate the impact of optically thick clumping on stellar wind diagnostics in O supergiants and constrain wind parameters associated with porosity in velocity space. This is the first time the effects of optically thick clumping have been investigated for a sample of massive hot stars, using models including a full optically thick clumping description. We re-analyse spectroscopic observations of a sample of eight O supergiants. Using a genetic algorithm wrapper around the NLTE atmosphere code FASTWIND we obtain simultaneous fits to optical and UV spectra and determine photospheric and wind properties and surface abundances. We provide empirical constraints on a number of wind parameters including the clumping factors, mass-loss rates and terminal wind velocities. Additionally, we establish the first systematic empirical constraints on velocity filling factors and interclump densities. These parameters describe clump distribution in velocity-space and density of the interclump medium in physical-space, respectively. We observe a mass-loss rate reduction of a factor of 3.6 compared to theoretical predictions from Vink et al. (2000), and mass-loss rates within a factor 1.4 of predictions from Bjorklund et al. (2021). We confirm that including optically thick clumping allows simultaneous fitting of recombination lines and resonance lines, including the unsaturated UV phosphorus lines (Pv 1118-1128), without reducing the phosphorus abundance. We find that, on average, half of the wind velocity field is covered by dense clumps. We also find that these clumps are 25 times denser than the average wind, and that the interclump medium is 3-10 times less dense than the mean wind. The former result agrees well with theoretical predictions, the latter suggests that lateral filling-in of radially compressed gas might be critical for setting the scale of the rarefied interclump matter.
We discuss the basic physics of hot-star winds and we provide mass-loss rates for (very) massive stars. Whilst the emphasis is on theoretical concepts and line-force modelling, we also discuss the current state of observations and empirical modelling, and address the issue of wind clumping.
We aim to investigate mass loss and luminosity in a large sample of evolved stars in several Local Group galaxies with a variety of metalliticies and star-formation histories: the Small and Large Magellanic Cloud, and the Fornax, Carina, and Sculptor dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Dust radiative transfer models are presented for 225 carbon stars and 171 oxygen-rich evolved stars for which spectra from the Infrared Spectrograph on Spitzer are available. The spectra are complemented with available optical and infrared photometry to construct spectral energy distributions. A minimization procedure was used to determine luminosity and mass-loss rate (MLR). Pulsation periods were derived for a large fraction of the sample based on a re-analysis of existing data. New deep K-band photometry from the VMC survey and multi-epoch data from IRAC and AllWISE/NEOWISE have allowed us to derive pulsation periods longer than 1000 days for some of the most heavily obscured and reddened objects. We derive (dust) MLRs and luminosities for the entire sample. The estimated MLRs can differ significantly from estimates for the same objects in the literature due to differences in adopted optical constants (up to factors of several) and details in the radiative transfer modelling. Updated parameters for the super-AGB candidate MSX SMC 055 (IRAS 00483-7347) are presented. Its current mass is estimated to be 8.5 +- 1.6 msol, suggesting an initial mass well above 8~msol. Using synthetic photometry, we present and discuss colour-colour and colour-magnitude diagrams which can be expected from the James Webb Space Telescope.
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