Astronomy & Astrophysics Seminar: Open questions concerning the evolution of massive stars at solar and subsolar metallicity

Abstract:

Through their winds, radiation fields, and supernovae explosions, massive OB-type and Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars dominate the ionization budget of their host galaxies. Classical WR stars probe a critical evolved phase of massive stars, while non-classical WR stars belong to the most massive stars ever detected. 

Despite their importance, many questions concerning the formation of WR stars, the evolution of their OB-type progenitors, and the properties of their final neutron star/black hole remnants, remain unresolved. The most pressing issues include the amount of mass lost during the evolution of massive stars via stellar winds/eruptions, their natal rotation and its impact on their evolution, and, last but not least, the incidence and impact of binarity. In my talk, I will present current studies conducted by myself and colleagues attempting to shed light on these key questions through the spectroscopy of populations of massive stars in the Galaxy and at the low metallicity environment of the Magellanic Cloudsץ

Seminar Organizer: Dr. Omer Bromberg