Search

Detections of extragalactic $^{15}$N are reported from observations of the rare hydrogen cyanide isotope HC$^{15}$N toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) and the core of the (post-) starburst galaxy NGC 4945. Accounting for optical depth effects, the LMC data from the massive star-forming region N113 infer a $^{14}N/^{15}$N ratio of 111 $\pm$ 17, about twice the $^{12}C/^{13}$C value. For the LMC star-forming region N159HW and for the central region of NGC 4945, $^{14}N/^{15}$N ratios are also $\approx$ 100. The $^{14}N/^{15}$N ratios are smaller than all interstellar nitrogen isotope ratios measured in the disk and center of the Milky Way, strongly supporting the idea that $^{15}$N is predominantly of `primary' nature, with massive stars being its dominant source. Although this appears to be in contradiction with standard stellar evolution and nucleosynthesis calculations, it supports recent findings of abundant $^{15}$N production due to rotationally induced mixing of protons into the helium-burning shells of massive stars., Comment: 15 pages including one postscript figure, accepted for publication by ApJ Letter, further comments: please contact Yi-nan Chin

We report on a mechanism which may lead to a spin-up of the surface of a rotating single star leaving the Hayashi line, which is much stronger than the spin-up expected from the mere contraction of the star. By analyzing rigidly rotating, convective stellar envelopes, we qualitatively work out the mechanism through which these envelopes may be spun up or down by mass loss through their lower or upper boundary, respectively. We find that the first case describes the situation in retreating convective envelopes, which tend to retain most of the angular momentum while becoming less massive, thereby increasing the specific angular momentum in the convection zone and thus in the layers close to the stellar surface. We explore the spin-up mechanism quantitatively in a stellar evolution calculation of a rotating 12 M_sun star, which is found to be spun up to critical rotation after leaving the red supergiant branch. We discuss implications of this spin-up for the circumstellar matter around several types of stars, i.e., post-AGB stars, B[e] stars, pre-main sequence stars, and, in particular, the progenitor of Supernova 1987A., Comment: 12 pages, 7 PostScript figures, LaTeX, to appear in A&A

We summarize the present status of the predictions of massive star models for the evolution of their surface properties. After discussing luminosity, temperature and chemical composition, we focus on the question whether massive stars may arrive at critical rotation during their evolution, either on the main sequence or in later stages. We find both cases to be possible and briefly discuss observable consequences., Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 3 PostScript figures (included), uses paspconf.sty (included), 1997, in: Proceeding of 2nd Boulder-Munich Workshop on Hot Stars, I. Howarth et al., eds, PASP Conf. Ser. Proc., 131, p. 76, also available at http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/Stars/Preprints/windsor.ps.gz

We investigate the pulsational properties of RSG models --- which we evolve from ZAMS masses in the range 10 to $20 \Msun$ --- by means of linear and non-linear calculations. We find period and growth rate of the dominant fundamental mode to increase with increasing luminosity-to-mass ratio $L/M$. Our models obtain relatively large $L/M$ values due to the inclusion of rotation in the evolutionary calculations; however, the largest values are obtained at and beyond central He-exhaustion due to major internal rearrangements of the nuclear burning regions. Our non-linear calculations as well as the behavior of the linear period and growth rate of the pulsations for periods approaching the Kelvin-Helmholtz time scale of the H-rich stellar envelope point towards the possibility of large amplitude pulsations. Such properties are similar to that found in AGB stars and suggest the possibility of a ``superwind'' to occur before the RSGs explode as supernovae. We conclude that changes in global stellar properties during the last few $10^4 \yr$ before core collapse may lead to drastic changes in the pulsational and wind properties of pre-supernova stars, with marked consequences for the immediate pre-supernova structure of the star and the circumstellar medium. We compare our results with observations of long-period OH/IR variables and discuss observational evidence for our scenario from observed supernova light curves, spectra and remnants., Comment: 8 pages, LaTeX, 8 PostScript figures, uses l-aa.sty, to appear in A&A. Also available via http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~ahg/Publications/Preprints/pulsation.ps.gz

Westerlund 1 provides a unique opportunity to probe the physics of massive stars, from birth to death and beyond, as well as the formation and evolution of a super star cluster that appears destined to evolve into a globular cluster. We highlight the result of current studies of this cluster, its diverse stellar constituents and immediate environment, concluding with a summary of future research avenues enabled by ESO facilities.