The VLT-FLAMES Survey of Massive Stars

Evans, Chris; Hunter, Ian; Smartt, Stephen; Lennon, Danny; de Koter, Alex; Mokiem, Rohied; Trundle, Carrie; Dufton, Philip; Ryans, Robert; Puls, Joachim; Vink, Jorick; Herrero, Artemio; Simón-Díaz, Sergio; Langer, Norbert; Brott, Ines
Bibliographical reference

The Messenger, vol. 131, p. 25-29

Advertised on:
3
2008
Number of authors
15
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
35
Refereed citations
20
Description
The VLT-FLAMES Survey of Massive Stars was an ESO Large Programme to understand rotational mixing and stellar mass loss in different metallicity environments, in order to better constrain massive star evolution. We gathered high-quality spectra of over 800 stars in the Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds. A sample of this size is unprecedented, enabled by the first high-resolution, wide-field, multi-object spectrograph on an 8-m telescope. We developed spectral analysis techniques that, in combination with non-LTE, line-blanketed model atmospheres, were used to quantitatively characterise every star. The large sample, combined with the theoretical developments, has produced exciting new insights into the evolution of the most massive stars.
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Physical properties and evolution of Massive Stars
This project aims at the searching, observation and analysis of massive stars in nearby galaxies to provide a solid empirical ground to understand their physical properties as a function of those key parameters that gobern their evolution (i.e. mass, spin, metallicity, mass loss, and binary interaction). Massive stars are central objects to
Sergio
Simón Díaz