Bibcode
Hunter, I.; Lennon, D. J.; Dufton, P. L.; Trundle, C.; Simón-Díaz, S.; Smartt, S. J.; Ryans, R. S. I.; Evans, C. J.
Bibliographical reference
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Volume 479, Issue 2, February IV 2008, pp.541-555
Advertised on:
2
2008
Journal
Citations
177
Refereed citations
144
Description
Aims:We aim to provide the atmospheric parameters and rotational
velocities for a large sample of O- and early B-type stars, analysed in
a homogeneous and consistent manner, for use in constraining theoretical
models. Methods: Atmospheric parameters, stellar masses, and
rotational velocities have been estimated for approximately 250 early
B-type stars in the Large (LMC) and Small (SMC) Magellanic Clouds from
high-resolution VLT-FLAMES data using the non-LTE TLUSTY model
atmosphere code. This data set has been supplemented with our previous
analyses of some 50 O-type stars (Mokiem et al. 2006, 2007) and 100
narrow-lined early B-type stars (Hunter et al. 2006; Trundle et al.
2007) from the same survey, providing a sample of ~400 early-type
objects. Results: Comparison of the rotational velocities with
evolutionary tracks suggests that the end of core hydrogen burning
occurs later than currently predicted and we argue for an extension of
the evolutionary tracks. We also show that the large number of the
luminous blue supergiants observed in the fields are unlikely to have
directly evolved from main-sequence massive O-type stars as neither
their low rotational velocities nor their position on the H-R diagram
are predicted. We suggest that blue loops or mass-transfer binary
systems may populate the blue supergiant regime. By comparing the
rotational velocity distributions of the Magellanic Cloud stars to a
similar Galactic sample, we find that (at 3σ confidence level)
massive stars (above 8 M&sun;) in the SMC rotate faster than
those in the solar neighbourhood. However there appears to be no
significant difference between the rotational velocity distributions in
the Galaxy and the LMC. We find that the v sin i distributions in the
SMC and LMC can modelled with an intrinsic rotational velocity
distribution that is a Gaussian peaking at 175 km s-1 (SMC)
and 100 km s-1 (LMC) with a 1/e half width of 150 km
s-1. We find that in NGC 346 in the SMC, the 10-25
M&sun; main-sequence stars appear to rotate faster than their
higher mass counterparts. It is not expected that O-type stars spin down
significantly through angular momentum loss via stellar winds at SMC
metallicity, hence this could be a reflection of mass dependent birth
spin rates. Recently Yoon et al. (2006) have determined rates of GRBs by
modelling rapidly rotating massive star progenitors. Our measured
rotational velocity distribution for the 10-25 M&sun; stars
is peaked at slightly higher velocities than they assume, supporting the
idea that GRBs could come from rapid rotators with initial masses as low
as 14 M&sun; at low metallicities.
Based on observations at the European Southern Observatory in programmes
171.0237 and 073.0234. Tables 1, 3-6 are only available in electronic
form at http://www.aanda.org
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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