We found a match
Your institution may have rights to this item. Sign in to continue.
- Title
The clumped winds of the most massive stars.
- Authors
Brands, Sarah A.; de Koter, Alex; Bestenlehner, Joachim M.; Crowther, Paul A.; Sundqvist, Jon O.; Puls, Joachim; Caballero-Nieves, Saida M.; Abdul-Masih, Michael; Driessen, Florian A.; García, Miriam; Geen, Sam; Gräfener, Götz; Hawcroft, Calum; Kaper, Lex; Keszthelyi, Zsolt; Langer, Norbert; Sana, Hugues; Schneider, Fabian R. N.; Shenar, Tomer; Vink, Jorick S.
- Abstract
The core of the cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud hosts the most massive stars known. The high mass-loss rates of these stars strongly impact their surroundings, as well as the evolution of the stars themselves. To quantify this impact accurate mass-loss rates are needed, however, uncertainty about the degree of inhomogeneity of the winds ('wind clumping'), makes mass-loss measurements uncertain. We combine optical and ultraviolet HST/STIS spectroscopy of 56 stars in the core of R136 in order to put constraints on the wind structure, improving the accuracy of the mass-loss rate measurements. We find that the winds are highly clumped, and use our measured mass-loss rates to test theoretical predictions. Furthermore we find, for the first time, tentative trends in the wind-structure parameters as a function of mass-loss rate, suggesting that the winds of stars with higher mass-loss rates are less clumped than those with lower mass-loss rates.
- Subjects
STELLAR atmospheres; LARGE magellanic cloud; SUPERGIANT stars; STELLAR evolution; STELLAR mass; MASS loss (Astrophysics); STELLAR winds
- Publication
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, 2024, Vol 18, Issue S361, p184
- ISSN
1743-9213
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1017/S1743921322002277