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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Can massive stars be formed by accretion?

Radiative effects strongly hinder the formation of massive stars. A necessary condition for accretion growth of a hydrostatic object up to high masses is the formation of and accretion through a circumstellar disk.

star formation circumstellar disks↗
NASA NTRS2012

Atomic Physics of Shocked Plasma in Winds of Massive Stars

High resolution diffraction grating spectra of X-ray emission from massive stars obtained with Chandra and XMM-Newton have revolutionized our understanding of their powerful, radiation-driven winds. Emission line shapes and line ratios provide diagnostics on a number of key wind parameters. Modeling of resolved emission line velocity profiles allows us to derive independent constraints on stellar mass-loss rates, leading to downward revisions of a factor of a few from previous measurements. Line ratios in He-like ions strongly constrain the spatial distribution of Xray emitting plasma, confirming the expectations of radiation hydrodynamic simulations that X-ray emission begins moderately close to the stellar surface and extends throughout the wind. Some outstanding questions remain, including the possibility of large optical depths in resonance lines, which is hinted at by differences in line shapes of resonance and intercombination lines from the same ion. Resonance scattering leads to nontrivial radiative transfer effects, and modeling it allows us to place constraints on shock size, density, and velocity structure

Physics↗
NASA NTRS1980

Isotopic yields of Mg, Al from the carbon and neon zones in the explosion of a massive star

A model is developed for the nucleosynthetic yields from the supernova explosion of a massive star of the sort which has been proposed as the initiating event in the formation of the solar system by Cameron and Truran (1977). Calculations start with the Hugoniot curves, estimating the preshock conditions from a 25 solar masses model at the start of core collapse. It is shown that the products of static carbon burning dominate abundance patterns in the ejecta. Both explosive carbon burning and explosive neon burning contribute significantly to Al-26. The production of Al-26 in this model is consistent with the trigger hypothesis.

Morgan, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Xenon, osmium, and lead formed in O-shells and C-shells of massive stars

In this paper it is shown that the explosive products from O-shells of massive stars which contain Xe-124 with large overproduction factors do not contain any of the naturally occurring isotopes of Os and Pb. Further, it is shown that the explosive products from C-shells (explosive carbon burning) do contain Os and Pb along with Xe which is strongly enriched in r-Xe of anomalous isotopic composition. The composition of Os in this matter is probably s-like rather than r-like. Pb in this matter is enriched in Pb-208. The results and arguments of this paper have implications for studies of isotopic compositions of Xe, Os, and Pb in residues of the Allende and other carbonaceous chondrites.

Heymann, D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Infrared galaxies - Evolutionary stages of massive star formation

We cite evidence which indicates that infrared galaxies may represent evolutionary stages during which a large number of massive stars are being formed. The lifetimes of these stars would be rather short (1-10 million years), and the resulting supernova explosions could account for the level of nonthermal activity which often accompanies the thermal infrared emission.

Harwit, M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

H II regions as probes of galaxy evolution and the properties of massive stars

The use of H II regions as probes to study the chemical evolution of galaxies and the spectral properties of hot, massive stars is reviewed. The observable parameters for this task are the physical conditions, elemental abundances, and ionization balance in the ionized gas. Some outstanding uncertainties in the determination of these parameters and some approaches to remedy or circumvent the problems are discussed.

Garnett, Donald R.↗
NASA NTRS2022

The Effects of Surface Fossil Magnetic Fields on Massive Star Evolution: IV. Grids of Models at Solar, LMC, and SMC Metallicities

Magnetic fields can drastically change predictions of evolutionary models of massive stars via mass-loss quenching, magnetic braking, and efficient angular momentum transport, which we aim to quantify in this work. We use the MESA software instrument to compute an e xtensiv e main-sequence grid of stellar structure and evolution models, as well as isochrones, accounting for the effects attributed to a surface fossil magnetic field. The grid is densely populated in initial mass (3–60 M ), surface equatorial magnetic field strength (0–50 kG), and metallicity (representative of the Solar neighbourhood and the Magellanic Clouds). We use two magnetic braking and two chemical mixing schemes and compare the model predictions for slowly rotating, nitrogen- enriched (‘Group 2’) stars with observations in the Large Magellanic Cloud. We quantify a range of initial field strengths that allow for producing Group 2 stars and find that typical values (up to a few kG) lead to solutions. Between the subgrids, we find notable departures in surface abundances and evolutionary paths. In our magnetic models, chemical mixing is al w ays less efficient compared to non-magnetic models due to the rapid spin-down. We identify that quasi-chemically homogeneous main sequence evolution by efficient mixing could be prevented by fossil magnetic fields. We recommend comparing this grid of evolutionary models with spectropolarimetric and spectroscopic observations with the goals of (i) revisiting the derived stellar parameters of known magnetic stars, and (ii) observationally constraining the uncertain magnetic braking and chemical mixing schemes.

stars: abundances↗
NASA NTRS2003

Massive Stars and the Energy Balance of the Interstellar Medium: The Impact of an Isolated 60 M. Star - 1

We present results of numerical simulations carried out with a two-dimensional radiation hydrodynamics code in order to study the impact of massive stars on their surrounding interstellar medium. This first paper deals with the evolution of the circumstellar gas around an isolated 60 M. star. The interaction of the photo- ionized H II region with the stellar wind bubble forms a variety of interesting structures like shells, clouds, fingers, and spokes. These results demonstrate that complex structures found in H II regions are not necessarily relics from the time before the gas became ionized but may result from dynamical processes during the course of the H II region evolution. We have also analyzed the transfer and deposit of the stellar wind and radiation energy into the circumstellar medium until the star explodes as a supernova. Although the total mechanical wind energy supplied by the star is negligible compared to the accumulated energy of the Lyman continuum photons, the kinetic energy imparted to the circumstellar gas over the star s lifetime is 4 times higher than for a comparable windless simulation. Furthermore, the thermal energy of warm photoionized gas is lower by some 55%). Our results document the necessity to consider both ionizing radiation and stellar winds for an appropriate description of the interaction of OB stars with their circumstellar environment.

Freyer, Tim↗
NASA NTRS2004

Nucleosynthesis of Short-lived Radioactivities in Massive Stars

A leading model for the source of many of the short-lived radioactivities in the early solar nebula is direct incorporation from a massive star [1]. A recent and promising incarnation of this model includes an injection mass cut, which is a boundary between the stellar ejecta that become incorporated into the solar cloud and those ejecta that do not [2-4]. This model also includes a delay time between ejection from the star and incorporation into early solar system solid bodies. While largely successful, this model requires further validation and comparison against data. Such evaluation becomes easier if we have a better sense of the nature of the synthesis of the various radioactivities in the star. That is the goal of this brief abstract.

Meyer, B. S.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Modeling Broadband X-Ray Absorption of Massive Star Winds

We present a method for computing the net transition of X-rays emitted by shock-heated plasma distributed throughout a partially optically thick stellar wind from a massive star. We find the transmission by an exact integration of the formal solution, assuming the emitting plasma and absorbing plasma are mixed at a constant mass ratio above some minimum radius, below which there is assumed to be no emission. This model is more realistic than either the slab absorption associated with a corona at the base of the wind or the exospheric approximation that assumes all observed X-rays are emitted without attenuation from above the radius of optical depth unity. Our model is implemented in XSPEC as a pre-calculated table that can be coupled to a user-defined table of the wavelength dependent wind opacity. We provide a default wind opacity model that is more representative of real wind opacities than the commonly used neutral ISM tabulation. Preliminary modeling of Chandra grating data indicates that the X-ray hardness trend of OB stars with spectral subtype cars largely be understood as a wind absorption effect.

Leutenegger, Maurice A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Evolution of massive stars in very young clusters and associations

Statistics concerning the stellar content of young galactic clusters and associations which show well defined main sequence turnups have been analyzed in order to derive information about stellar evolution in high-mass galaxies. The analytical approach is semiempirical and uses natural spectroscopic groups of stars on the H-R diagram together with the stars' apparent magnitudes. The new approach does not depend on absolute luminosities and requires only the most basic elements of stellar evolution theory. The following conclusions are offered on the basis of the statistical analysis: (1) O-tupe main-sequence stars evolve to a spectral type of B1 during core hydrogen burning; (2) most O-type blue stragglers are newly formed massive stars burning core hydrogen; (3) supergiants lying redward of the main-sequence turnup are burning core helium; and most Wolf-Rayet stars are burning core helium and originally had masses greater than 30-40 solar mass. The statistics of the natural spectroscopic stars in young galactic clusters and associations are given in a table.

Stothers, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The initial mass function for massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds. 3: Luminosity and mass functions for 14 OB associations

We have used UBV photometry of stars in 14 associations in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC/SMS) (Hill, Madore, & Freedman) to derive luminosity and mass functions for the most massive stars. The main-sequence luminosity functions for the associations are quite similar, having an average slope of s = 0.03 +/- 0.06. The mass functions for the associations have slopes that span similar ranges about a common mean for both the LMC and SMC and there is no strong evidence for a significant variation in the slopes from one association to another. Accordingly, metal abundance does not appear to have a strong effect on the initial mass function (IMF), at least for the range in metallicity observed between the Magellanic Clouds. The average slope of the IMF for the Magellanic Cloud associations is Gamma = -2.0 +/- 0.5 for M greater than 9 Solar Masses. The range in the derived slopes is more likely due to the large uncertainties associated with the calculations of the mass functions, rather than to real variations in the IMF. There may be some evidence for a decrease in the slope of the IMF at masses below 9 Solar Masses, but incompleteness and the larger photometric errors associated with the faintest stars make this conclusion tentative.

Hill, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Massive Star Formation of the SGR a East H (sub II) Regions Near the Galactic Center

A group of four compact H II regions associated with the well-known 50 km/s molecular cloud is the closest site of on-going star formation to the dynamical center of the Galaxy, at a projected distance of approximately 6 pc. We present a study of ionized gas based on the [Ne II] (12.8 micron) line, as well as multi-frequency radio continuum, Hubble Space Telescope Pa alpha, and Spitzer Infrared Array Camera observations of the most compact member of the H II group, Sgr A East H II D. The radio continuum image at 6 cm shows that this source breaks up into two equally bright ionized features, D1 and D2. The spectral energy distribution of the D source is consistent with it being due to a 25 =/- 3 solar mass star with a luminosity of 8 +/- 3 x 10(exp 4) Solar luminosity . The inferred mass, effective temperature of the UV source, and the ionization rate are compatible with a young O9-B0 star. The ionized features D1 and D2 are considered to be ionized by UV radiation collimated by an accretion disk. We consider that the central massive star photoevaporates its circumstellar disk on a timescale of 3x (exp 4) years giving a mass flux approximately 3 x 10(exp -5) Solar Mass / year and producing the ionized material in D1 and D2 expanding in an inhomogeneous medium. The ionized gas kinematics, as traced by the [Ne II] emission, is difficult to interpret, but it could be explained by the interaction of a bipolar jet with surrounding gas along with what appears to be a conical wall of lower velocity gas. The other H II regions, Sgr A East A-C, have morphologies and kinematics that more closely resemble cometary flows seen in other compact H II regions, where gas moves along a paraboloidal surface formed by the interaction of a stellar wind with a molecular cloud.

Yusef-Zadeh, F.↗