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The Red Supergiant Problem: Circumstellar dust as a solution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2012

Joe Walmswell  and
John Eldridge
Joe Walmswell
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, The Observatories, University of CambridgeMadingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, United Kingdom email: [email protected]
John Eldridge
Affiliation:
The Department of Physics, The University of AucklandPrivate Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand email: [email protected]
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Abstract

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We investigate the red supergiant problem: the apparent dearth of Type IIP supernova progenitors with masses between 16 and 30 M⊙. Although red supergiants with masses in this range have been observed, none have been identified as progenitors in pre–explosion images. We show that, by failing to take into account the additional extinction resulting from the dust produced in the red supergiant winds, the luminosity of the most massive red supergiants at the end of their lives is underestimated. We re–estimate the initial masses of all Type IIP progenitors for which observations exist and analyse the resulting population. We find that the most likely maximum mass for a Type IIP progenitor is 21+2−1 M⊙. This is in closer agreement with the limit predicted from single star evolution models.

Keywords

stars: evolution – supernovae: general – stars: supergiants
Type
Poster Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 7 , Symposium S279: Death of Massive Stars: Supernovae and Gamma-Ray Bursts , April 2011 , pp. 419 - 420
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2012

References

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