We have developed a new numerical method for obtaining self-consistent structures of rapidly rotating stars. We obtained self-consistent equilibrium structures of rapidly rotating massive stars with shellular rotation by using the method. These equilibrium structures might be useful for both evolution of rapidly rotating massive stars and progenitor models of core-collapse supernovae simulations.

We present VLT/MUSE observations of NGC 2070, the dominant ionizing nebula of 30 Doradus in the LMC, plus HST/STIS spectroscopy of its central star cluster R136. Integral Field Spectroscopy (MUSE) and pseudo IFS (STIS) together provides a complete census of all massive stars within the central 30×30 parsec2 of the Tarantula. We discuss the integrated far-UV spectrum of R136, of particular interest for UV studies of young extragalactic star clusters. Strong He iiλ1640 emission at very early ages (1–2 Myr) from very massive stars cannot be reproduced by current population synthesis models, even those incorporating binary evolution and very massive stars. A nebular analysis of the integrated MUSE dataset implies an age of ~4.5 Myr for NGC 2070. Wolf-Rayet features provide alternative age diagnostics, with the primary contribution to the integrated Wolf-Rayet bumps arising from R140 rather than the more numerous H-rich WN stars in R136. Caution should be used when interpreting spatially extended observations of extragalactic star-forming regions.

We are using light curves from the KELT exoplanet transit survey (Pepper et al. 2007) to study the variability of hundreds of Be stars. Combining these light curves with simultaneous time-series spectra from the APOGEE survey (Majewski et al. 2015) provides a glimpse into how changes in the circumstellar environment are correlated to brightness variations.

We present results of optical observations in the lines of Hα and [SII] (λ 6717 and 6731 Å) obtained with the UNAM Scanning Fabry-Perot Interferometer PUMA (Rosado et al. 1995,RMxAASC, 3, 263 ) aimed at obtaining the kinematical distance, shock velocity and other important parameters of two supernova remnants (SNRs) with optical counterparts. We discuss on how kinematical distances thus obtained fit with other distance determinations. The studied SNRs are CTB 109 (SNR G109.1 − 1.0) hosting a magnetar (Sánchez-Cruces et al. 2017, in preparation) and the SNR G206.9 + 2.3 (Ambrocio-Cruz et al. 2014,RMxAA, 50, 323), a typical supernova remnant, to have a comparison. In Fig. 1 is depicted the [SII] line emission of two filaments of the optical counterpart of SNR CTB 109. We find complex radial velocity profiles obtained with the Fabry-Perot interferometer, revealing the presence of different velocity components. From these velocity profiles we obtain the kinematical distance, an expansion velocity of 188 km/s and an initial energy of 8.1 x 1050 ergs. These values are rather typical of other SNRs regardless that SNR CTB 109 hosts a magnetar. Thus, the mechanical energy delivered in the supernova explosion forming the magnetar does not seem to impact more than other SNe explosions the interstellar medium. This work has been funded by grants IN103116 and 253085 from DGAPA-UNAM and CONACYT, respectively.

Multidimensional effects are essential for the success of the neutrino-driven explosion mechanism of core-collapse supernovae. Although astrophysical phenomena in nature involve three spatial dimensions, the huge computational demands still allow only for a few self-consistent, three-dimensional (3D) simulations focusing on specific aspects of the explosion physics, whereas systematic studies of larger sets of progenitor models or detailed investigations of different explosion parameters are restricted to the axisymmetric (2D) modeling approach at the moment. Employing state-of-the-art neutrino physics, we present the results of self-consistent core-collapse supernova simulations performed with the Prometheus-Vertex code in 2D and 3D. The 2D study of 18 successfully exploding pre-supernova models in the range of 11 to 28 solar masses shows the progenitor dependence of the explosion dynamics: if the progenitor exhibits a pronounced decline of the density at the Si/Si-O composition shell interface, the rapid drop of the mass-accretion rate at the time the interface arrives at the shock induces a steep reduction of the accretion ram pressure. This causes a strong shock expansion supported by neutrino heating and thus favors an early explosion. In case of a more gradually decreasing accretion rate, it takes longer for the neutrino heating to overcome the accretion ram pressure and explosions set in later. By considering the effects of turbulent pressure in the gain layer, we derive a generalized condition for the critical neutrino luminosity that captures the explosion behavior of all models very well. We show that this concept can also be extended to describe the effects of rotation as well as the behavior of recent 3D simulations and that the conditions necessary for the onset of explosion can be defined in a similar way.

SNe of Type IIn are among the brightest supernova explosions due to strong circumstellar interaction. Examining the geometric and optical properties of the circumstellar material (CSM) can help to identify the progenitors of individual IIn SNe. Polarimetry is the optimal method for constraining CSM characteristics, as polarimetric signals both depend upon and preserve geometric information from unresolved sources. I present the results of fitting an ensemble of simulated polarized Hα emission-line profiles of interacting SNe, created using a three-dimensional Monte Carlo radiative transfer code called SLIP, to the multi-epoch observed polarized spectra of the Type IIn SN 1997eg. Further study of this model ensemble will allow us to investigate relationships among SNe IIn based on viewing angle and consider how the category should be subdivided based on physical properties of the CSM and/or progenitor.

We review the fundamentals and the recent developments in understanding of common envelope physics. We report specifically on the progress that was made by the consideration of the recombination energy. This energy is found to be responsible for the complete envelope ejection in the case of a prompt binary formation, for the delayed dynamical ejections in the case of a self-regulated spiral-in, and for the steady recombination outflows during the transition between the plunge-in and the self-regulated spiral-in. Due to different ways how the recombination affects the common envelope during fast and slow spiral-ins, the apparent efficiency of the orbital energy use can be different between the two types of spiral-ins by a factor of ten. We also discuss the observational signatures of the common envelope events, their link a new class of astronomical transients, Luminous Red Novae, and to a plausible class of very luminous irregular variables.

We analyzed spectra of all Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). We find that, unlike predicted, mass-transfer in binaries is not needed to explain their formation.

We summarize the status and results of the OWN Survey, a high-resolution monitoring program of Southern Galactic O- and WN-type stars, after twelve years of observing campaign.

We have recently released version 2.0 of the Binary Population and Spectral Synthesis (BPASS) population synthesis code. This is designed to construct the spectra and related properties of stellar populations built from ~200,000 detailed, individual stellar models of known age and metallicity. The output products enable a broad range of theoretical predictions for individual stars, binaries, resolved and unresolved stellar populations, supernovae and their progenitors, and compact remnant mergers. Here we summarise key applications that demonstrate that binary populations typically reproduce observations better than single star models.

Turbulent transport and mixing generated by hydrodynamic instabilities triggered by rotation gradients are key mechanisms in the evolution of massive stars. We present here a summary of the progresses on shear-induced mixing obtained with numerical simulations, along with a new prescription for horizontal turbulence.

We obtained HST COS G140L spectra of the enigmatic nearby blue compact dwarf galaxy II Zw 40. The galaxy hosts a nuclear super star cluster embedded in a radio-bright nebula, similar to those observed in the related blue compact dwarfs NGC 5253 and Henize 2-10. The ultraviolet spectrum of II Zw 40 is exceptional in terms of the strength of He II 1640, O III] 1666 and C III] 1909. We determined reddening, age, and the cluster mass from the ultraviolet data. The super nebula and the ionizing cluster exceed the ionizing luminosity and stellar mass of the local benchmark 30 Doradus by an order of magnitude. Comparison with stellar evolution models accounting for rotation reveals serious short-comings: these models do not account for the presence of Wolf-Rayet-like stars at young ages observed in II Zw 40. Photoionization modeling is used to probe the origin of the nebular lines and determine gas phase abundances. C/O is solar, in agreement with the result of the stellar-wind modeling.

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are the most advanced stage in the evolution of the most massive stars. The strong feedback provided by these objects and their subsequent supernova (SN) explosions are decisive for a variety of astrophysical topics such as the cosmic matter cycle. Consequently, understanding the properties of WR stars and their evolution is indispensable. A crucial but still not well known quantity determining the evolution of WR stars is their mass-loss rate. Since the mass loss is predicted to increase with metallicity, the feedback provided by these objects and their spectral appearance are expected to be a function of the metal content of their host galaxy. This has severe implications for the role of massive stars in general and the exploration of low metallicity environments in particular. Hitherto, the metallicity dependence of WR star winds was not well studied. In this contribution, we review the results from our comprehensive spectral analyses of WR stars in environments of different metallicities, ranging from slightly super-solar to SMC-like metallicities. Based on these studies, we derived empirical relations for the dependence of the WN mass-loss rates on the metallicity and iron abundance, respectively.

About one half of high-mass X-ray binaries host a Be star [an OB star with a viscous decretion (slowly outflowing) disk]. These Be/X-ray binaries exhibit two types of X-ray outbursts (Stella et al. 1986), normal X-ray outbursts (L X~1036−37 erg s−1) and occasional giant X-ray outbursts (L X > 1037 erg s−1). The origin of giant X-ray outbursts is unknown. On the other hand, a half of gamma-ray binaries have a Be star as the optical counterpart. One of these systems [LS I +61 303 (P orb = 26.5 d)] shows the superorbital (1,667 d) modulation in radio through X-ray bands. No consensus has been obtained for its origin. In this paper, we study a possibility that both phenomena are caused by a long-term, cyclic evolution of a highly misaligned Be disk under the influence of a compact object, by performing 3D hydrodynamic simulations. We find that the Be disk cyclically evolves in mildly eccentric, short-period systems. Each cycle consists of the following stages:

1. 1) As the Be disk grows with time, the initially circular disk becomes eccentric by the Kozai-Lidov mechanism.

2. 2) At some point, the disk is tidally torn off near the base and starts precession.

3. 3) Due to precession, a gap opens between the disk base and mass ejection region, which allows the formation of a new disk in the stellar equatorial plane (see Figure 1).

4. 4) The newly formed disk finally replaces the precessing old disk. Such a cyclic disk evolution has interesting implications for the long-term behavior of high energy emission in Be/X-ray and gamma-ray binaries.

Gamma Cassiopeiae is an enigmatic Be star with unusually hard, strong X-ray emission compared with normal main-sequence B stars. The origin has been debated for decades between two theories: mass accretion onto a hidden compact companion and a magnetic dynamo driven by the star-Be disk differential rotation. There has been no decisive signature found that supports either theory, such as a pulse in X-ray emission or the presence of large-scale magnetic field. In a ~100 ksec duration observation of the star with the Suzaku X-ray observatory in 2011, we detected six rapid X-ray spectral hardening events called “softness dips”. All the softness dip events show symmetric softness ratio variations, and some of them have flat bottoms apparently due to saturation. The softness dip spectra are best described by either ~40% or ~70% partial covering absorption to kT ~12 keV plasma emission by matter with a neutral hydrogen column density of ~2 − 8 × 1021cm−2, while the spectrum outside of these dips is almost free of absorption. This result suggests that two distinct X-ray emitting spots in the γ Cas system, perhaps on a white dwarf companion with dipole mass accretion, are occulted by blobs in the Be stellar wind, the Be disk, or rotating around the white dwarf companion. The formation of a Be star and white dwarf binary system requires mass transfer between two stars; γ Cas may have experienced such activity in the past.

The origin of red supergiant mass loss still remains to be unveiled. Characterising the formation loci and the dust distribution in the first stellar radii above the surface is key to understand the initiation of the mass loss phenomenon. Polarimetric interferometry observations in the near-infrared allowed us to detect an inner dust atmosphere located only 0.5 stellar radius above the photosphere of Betelgeuse. We modelled these observations and compare them with visible polarimetric measurements to discuss the dust distribution properties.

MASGOMAS (MAssive Stars in Galactic Obscured MAssive clusterS) is a project aiming at discovering OB stars in Galactic, dust enshrouded, star-forming massive clusters (Marín-Franch et al. 2009, A&A 502, 559). The project has gone through different phases of increasing automatization, that have allowed us to discover massive clusters like MASGOMAS-1 (Ramírez Alegría et al. 2012, A&A 541, A75) (with M≈20,000 M⊙).

Recent spectropolarimetric surveys of bright, hot stars have found that ~10% of OB-type stars contain strong (mostly dipolar) surface magnetic fields (~kG). The prominent paradigm describing the interaction between the stellar winds and the surface magnetic field is the magnetically confined wind shock (MCWS) model. In this model, the stellar wind plasma is forced to move along the closed field loops of the magnetic field, colliding at the magnetic equator, and creating a shock. As the shocked material cools radiatively it will emit X-rays. Therefore, X-ray spectroscopy is a key tool in detecting and characterizing the hot wind material confined by the magnetic fields of these stars. Some B-type stars are found to have very short rotational periods. The effects of the rapid rotation on the X-ray production within the magnetosphere have yet to be explored in detail. The added centrifugal force due to rapid rotation is predicted to cause faster wind outflows along the field lines, leading to higher shock temperatures and harder X-rays. However, this is not observed in all rapidly rotating magnetic B-type stars. In order to address this from a theoretical point of view, we use the X-ray Analytical Dynamical Magnetosphere (XADM) model, originally developed for slow rotators, with an implementation of new rapid rotational physics. Using X-ray spectroscopy from ESA’s XMM-Newton space telescope, we observed 5 rapidly rotating B-types stars to add to the previous list of observations. Comparing the observed X-ray luminosity and hardness ratio to that predicted by the XADM allows us to determine the role the added centrifugal force plays in the magnetospheric X-ray emission of these stars.

Nearby galaxies are ideal objects for the study of the mechanisms of galaxy formation and evolution, and massive stars in nearby galaxies are useful sources to investigate the structures and formation of the galaxies. It is important to gather the contents of massive stars for a number of galaxies spanning various metallicities. We focus on the red supergiants (RSGs) in nearby galaxies NGC 4449, NGC 5055, and NGC 5457, and the photometric properties of RSGs of three galaxies were investigated using near-infrared (JHK) imaging data obtained from WFCAM UKIRT. The (J − K, K)0 CMDs are investigated and compared with theoretical isochrones (Figure 1). The majority of RSGs in three galaxies have common age ranges from log(t yr ) = 6.9 to log(t yr ) = 7.3, and this indicates that these galaxies have experienced recent star formation within 20 Myr. Spatial correlation of RSGs with H II regions and their colour distribution were also investigated. For NGC 4449 and NGC 5457, the RSGs are spatially correlated with the H II regions, which however is not the case for NGC 5055. We found a similar colour distribution and a constant peak magnitude of M K = −11.9 for the RSGs in the three galaxies.

To understand how complete our surveys of Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars can be with the current generation of telescopes, we study images of M33, a galaxy with a nearly complete WR catalogue, and degrade them to investigate the detectability of WRs out to 30Mpc. We lose almost half of our sample at 4.2Mpc, and at 30Mpc we detect only those WRs in bright regions.