Spring 1998 APS 6000 Graduate Astrophysics Seminar:

The Lifestyles of the Hot and Massive (Stars)

Who: Joel Parker & Peter Conti
(contact Joel at 546-0265 or joel@boulder.swri.edu)

When: Wednesdays, 16:00-16:50

Where: JILA, room S-105

Class notes

Papers Discussed in Class

February 4th:
``Massive Star Populations in Nearby Galaxies'', Maeder & Conti 1994, ARAA, 32, 227
Presented by:
Matt Beasley and Remy Indebetouw
February 11th:
``Combined stellar structure and atmosphere models for massive stars. I. Interior evolution and wind properties on the main sequence'', Schaerer, de Koter, Schmutz, & Maeder 1996, A&A, 310, 837
``Combined stellar structure and atmosphere models for massive stars. Wolf-Rayet models with spherically outflowing envelopes'', Schaerer 1996, A&A, 309, 129
Presented by:
Amanda Sickafoose and Aaron Hoff
February 18th:
``The Luminous Blue Variables: Astrophysical Geysers'', Humphreys, & Davidson 1994, PASP, 106, 1025
Presented by:
Jason Lisle and Eli Michael
March 4th:
``The stellar content of two OB associations in the LMC: LH 117 (NGC 2122) and LH 118 '', Massey, Garmany, Silkey, & DeGioia-Eastwood 1989, AJ, 97, 107
``The stellar content of LH 9 and 10 (N11) in the LMC: A case for sequential star formation'', Parker, Garmany, Massey, & Walborn 1992, AJ, 103, 1205
Presented by:
Rachel Osten and Jason Tumlinson
March 11th and April 1st:
``Populations of Massive Stars and the Interstellar Medium'', Leitherer, preprint (from the ``VIII Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics, Stellar Astrophysics for the Local Group'')
Presented by:
Kelsey Johnson and Massimo Ricotti
April 8th:
``The IMF Revisited: A Case for Variations'', Scalo 1998, preprint (from the ``The Stellar Initial Mass Function'', proceedings of the 38th Herstmonceux Conference, to appear in the ASP Conference Series).
``The Initial Stellar Mass Function from Random Sampling in a Turbulent Fractal Cloud'', Elmegreen 1997, ApJ, 486, 944
Related articles (these are articles that the presenters may also discuss, but are not required reading for the class. Read 'em if you want to have more information on this subject):
``A Theory for the Initial Mass Function'' Silk 1995, ApJ, 438, L41
``A Theory of the Initial Mass Function for Star Formation in Molecular Clouds'', Adams & Fatuzzo 1996, ApJ, 464, 256
Presented by:
Kelsey Johnson and Remy Indebetouw
  • April 15th (two-topic extended class):
    ``Near-Infrared Observations of Hot Stars, and Applications to Galactic HII Regions'', Conti & Blum (from the Boulder-Munich II: Properties of Hot, Luminous Stars) 1998, ASP Conference Series, 131, 24
    ``Newly Formed Massive Stars: Are They Good For the Neighborhood?'', Churchwell 1995, Ap&SS 224, 157
    NOTE: Copies of these two papers for April 15th are in my box (marked "PARKER") to the right of the door of the APS office (or in the APS office if all the copies won't fit in my box).
    Presented by:
    Matt Beasley and Jason Tumlinson
    AND
    ``Spectroscopic Confirmation of a Population of Normal Star-forming Galaxies at Redshifts z > 3'' Steidel et al. 1996 ApJ, 462L, 17
    ``Hubble Space Telescope Imaging of Star-forming Galaxies at Redshifts z > 3'' Giavalisco et al. 1996 ApJ, 470, 189
    Presented by:
    Massimo Ricotti
  • April 22nd:
    ``Nebulae around Luminous Blue Variables: A Unified Picture'', Nota et al. 1995 ApJ, 448, 788. NOTE that the above link does not include the plates for the paper, so be sure the get to also get the plates 28-32 for figures 1 & 2 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, and 9
    Also, for your LBV enjoyment, copies of a related preprint, ``Ejected Nebulae as Probes of the Evolution of Massive Stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud'' (Smith et al.) should be available in my box by the APS office by Friday.
    Presented by:
    Amanda Sickafoose and Jason Lisle
  • April 29th (two-topic extended class):
    ``Radiation-driven Winds in Of Stars'', Castor, Abbott, & Klein 1975, ApJ, 195, 157
    Presented by:
    Aaron Hoff and Eli Michael
    AND
    ``Atmospheric Accelerations and the Stability of Dynamic Supergiant Atmospheres'', Nieuwenhuijzen & de Jager 1995, A&A, 302, 811
    Presented by:
    Rachel Osten

    MOTIVATION:

    Massive, hot, OB-type stars and their descendants provide the driving force behind much of stellar formation and galactic evolution through their ionizing radiation, winds, and supernovae. A knowledge of massive stars is a necessary foundation for understanding the galactic environment and phenomena such as starbursts. Our primary goals in this course are for the students to (1) acquire an overview of the lives and global effects of massive stars via both observational and theoretical/modeling views, and (2) become acquainted with a selection of the relevant literature that they can use as starting points to pursue more specific topics.

    COURSE STRUCTURE:

    During the first two to three classes we will present an overview of the theory, observations, evolution, and physical properties of massive stars. These classes will cover the general ideas and interrelationships between the specific topics to be covered in more detail through the semester. For the next section of the course we will assign classic or key modern papers for the students to read. Each week, one or two papers will be assigned, and two or three students will lead the in-class discussion. For subsequent classes through the rest of the semester, the students will select papers on topics related to massive stars to for the class to read and discuss.

    TOPICS:

    Below we list an outline of the relevant topics to be discussed in this class, some in more depth than others: Other topics may be included/substituted depending on the interest of the class and the papers selected by the students for discussion.

    Some Books/Proceedings

    These books contain a number of review articles related to massive stars as well as more detailed articles on spectific topics. A good source for references to journal articles.

    Some Articles

    Below is a sample list of papers we plan to assign and/or are good for providing background and reference information for the lectures and student presentations:



    "Phew! That makes five hundred and one million, six hundred twenty-two thousand, seven hundred thrity-one."

    "Five hundred million what?" asked the little prince, "...Millions of what?"

    "Millions of those little objects, " he said, "which one sometimes sees in the sky. ...Little golden objects that set lazy men to idle dreaming. As for me, I am concerned with matters of consequence. There is no time for idle dreaming in my life."

    "Ah! You mean the stars?"

    "Yes, that's it. The stars."

    "And what do you do with five hundred millions of stars?"

    --- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

    Joel Parker (joel@boulder.swri.edu) [SwRI Homepage]