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Analytic, Turbulent Pressure Driven Mass Loss from Red Supergiants

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 August 2024

N. Dylan Kee*
Affiliation:
National Solar Observatory, 22 Ohi’a Ku St, Makawao, HI 96768, USA
the MAESTRO Project
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200D, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium
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Abstract

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Despite the important role mass loss in the red supergiant phase plays in controlling stellar evolution and massive stars’ final supernova fates, a theoretical explanation of the mechanism driving this mass loss has been elusive. In this contribution we present a recent breakthrough [Kee et∼al., 2021] showing that turbulent pressure alone is sufficient to markedly extend the atmospheres of red supergiants and allow a wind to be launched. The resulting theory provides a fully analytic prescription for red supergiant mass-loss rates. Moreover, the theoretical mass-loss rates computed from observationally inferred turbulent velocities are in overall good agreement with observationally inferred red supergiant mass loss. A particularly interesting aspect of this theory is that it is not sensitive to metallicity, providing important implications for stellar evolution and the so-called “red-supergiant problem” for supernova progenitors in various environments.

Type
Contributed Paper
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of International Astronomical Union

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