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The Physical Properties of Red Supergiants: Comparing Theory and Observations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

Philip Massey ,
Emily M. Levesque ,
Bertrand Plez  and
Knut A. G. Olsen
Philip Massey
Affiliation:
Lowell Observatory, 1400 W. Mars Hill Rd., Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA email: Phil.Massey@lowell.edu
Emily M. Levesque
Affiliation:
Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA email: emsque@ifa.hawaii.edu
Bertrand Plez
Affiliation:
GRAAL, Université Montpellier II, CNRS, 34095 Montpellier, France email: Bertrand.Plez@graal.univ-montp.fr
Knut A. G. Olsen
Affiliation:
Gemini Science Center, NOAO, P.O. Box 26732, Tucson, AZ 85726-6732, USA email: kolsen@noao.edu
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Abstract

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Red supergiants (RSGs) are an evolved stage in the life of intermediate massive stars (≤ 25 M⊙). For many years, their location in the H-R diagram was at variance with the evolutionary models. Using the MARCS stellar atmospheres, we have determined new effective temperatures and bolometric luminosities for RSGs in the Milky Way, LMC, and SMC, and our work has resulted in much better agreement with the evolutionary models. We have also found evidence of significant visual extinction due to circumstellar dust. Although in the Milky Way the RSGs contribute only a small fraction (< 1%) of the dust to the interstellar medium (ISM), in starburst galaxies or galaxies at large look-back times, we expect that RSGs may be the main dust source. We are in the process of extending this work now to RSGs of higher and lower metallicities using the galaxies M31 and WLM.

Keywords

stars: atmospheres – circumstellar matter – stars: evolution – stars: late-type – stars: mass loss – supergiants
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S250: Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines , December 2007 , pp. 97 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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