Mass loss from solar-type stars

Winds are directly detected from solar-type stars only when they are very young. At ages 10⁶ yr, these stars have mass loss rates 10⁶ times the mass flux of the present solar wind. Although these young T Tauri stars exhibit ultraviolet transition-region and X-ray coronal emission, the large particle densities of the massive winds lead to efficient radiative cooling, and wind temperatures are only 10⁴ K. In these circumstances thermal acceleration is unlikely to play an important role in driving the mass loss. Turbulent energy fluxes may be responsible for the observed mass loss, particularly if substantial magnetic fields are present.The presence of stellar mass loss is indirectly shown by the spindown of low-mass stars as they age. It appears that many solar-mass stars spin up as they contract toward the Main-Sequence, reaching a maximum equatorial velocity of 50 to 100 km s^–1. These stars spin down rapidly upon reaching the Main Sequence. Spindown may be enhanced by a decoupling or lag between convective envelope and radiative core. Because this spindown occurs fairly early in a solar-type star's history, the internal structure of old stars like the Sun may not depend upon initial conditions.     

Mass loss from Wolf-Rayet stars

Mass loss rates for 9 LMC WR stars are determined using IUE, UV, and visible spectrophotometric observations. A good correlations of mass loss rate with effective temperature and luminosity is indicated by the data, in agreement with the theoretical predictions.     

Mass loss from Wolf-Rayet stars

The observed times of minimum light derived from the photometry of the Wolf-Rayet eclipsing binary stars CQ Cep and V444 Cyg are used to estimate the mass-loss rate of the Wolf-Rayet components in several modes of mass-loss and mass-exchange.     

Rocket observations of mass loss from hot stars

Rocket observations have shown that the far-ultraviolet resonance lines have P-Cygni profiles in the spectra of many hot stars, including of and Wolf-Rayet stars and OB supergiants. Velocity shifts as high as–300- km sec^–1 have been measured for the short-wavelength edges of some of the lines. Estimates of the rates of mass loss range from 10^–8 to 10^–6 M year^–1.Presented at the Trieste Colloquium on Mass Loss from Stars, September 12–16, 1968.     

Mass loss mechanisms in evolved stars

Summary Mass loss is a very important phenomenon for stellar evolution. In the late stages of stars it becomes fairly high (up to 10^–4 M/yr) though with a much decreased expansion velocity (about 30 kms^–1). It can also be variable, sporadic. Now, though the first observational evidence for mass loss from cool stars is usually attributed to Adams and McCormak in 1935 and though a lot of observational and theoretical papers have been devoted to it since this discovery, we only know mechanisms which are probably efficient under the dominant physical conditions, but neither one mechanism nor a combination of mechanisms is able to produce the observed effects. Those most invoked (thermal gas pressure, radiation pressure, acoustic waves, shock waves, Alfvén waves, ) will be described and criticized, with emphasis on the radiation pressure on dust grains at work at least in the outer part of cool atmospheres. The geometry and the content of expanding atmospheres are also discussed together with the mechanisms that may be important at small scales. Both theory and observations are taken into accout.     

The evolution of massive stars with mass loss

The evolution of massive stars is investigated in the phases of hydrogen and helium burning, taking into account the mass-loss due to light pressure in optically thick media. The evolution in the stage of hydrogen burning near the Main Sequence occurs without mass loss. The large inverse density gradient appears in the outer layers of a 30 M star after it goes into the domain of red super-giants in the helium-burning stage. This effect appears as a consequence of an excess of luminosity of the star the ciritical one in sufficiently extensive outer layer, where convection is not so effective. In this way, the conditions for outflow of matter are formed. The sequence of selfconsistent models is constructed, with the core in hydrostatic equilibrium and hydrodynamically outflowing envelope. The amount of mass loss is not a given parameter, but it is found during the calculations as a characteristic number of the problem. The amount of mass loss is very high, of the order of 0.5M yr, the velocity of the flow is 20 km s^–1. The star loses about 7.2M during 15 yr. The amount of mass loss must rapidly decrease or finish altogether when matter near the hydrogen-burning layer begins to flow out, and a transformation of stellar structure must occur.The evolution of a 9M star is calculated. The density in the envelope of this star is sufficiently large and the outer convective zone, which develops on the red giant stage, prevents the outflow of matter. The intensive mass outflow from such star can take place at the carbon burning, or heavier element burning stages. The formation of infrared stars and Wolf-Rayet stars can be possibly explained by such a mechanism of mass loss, so that the infrared stage must precede the Wolf-Rayet stage.     

Very massive stars: Evolution with mass loss

In a previous paper (Klapp, 1983) we have described the evolution of metal-free mass-losing very massive stars (VMS) in the 500–10 000M range. The present paper concerns to the nucleosynthesis and mass loss aspects of the hydrogen- and helium-burning phase. Through radiation driven winds, the star losses 20–40% of its mass as helium and 1% as carbon and oxygen. The results show that VMS cannot produce the cosmological helium abundance without overproducing heavier elements. The high oxygen yield of VMS makes them the best candidates for producing an oxygen overabundance in old Population II stars.     

Very massive stars: Evolution with mass loss

The evolution of mass-losing very massive stars in the 500–10000M _⊙ range has been investigated for two different initial compositions, (X, Z)=(0.8,0.0) and (X, Z)=(1.0,0.0). The evolutionary tracks are governed by two opposing factors which are the increase in the mean molecular weight in the convective core and the effect of mass loss. Conservative evolution of stars with massM?10000M _⊙ is similar to that of massive stars (20–100M _⊙), always moving to lower effective temperatures. For low values of the standard mass loss parameterN (50?N?200) the two opposing factors are almost in balance and the star is forced to move in a series of loops. For higher mass loss rates the loops disappear. In the 10000M _⊙ case no loops are observed and the tracks always move to higher effective temperatures. For a given mass loss rate the transition between right and left moving tracks occurs at higher masses the lower is the mass loss rate.     

Mass loss from very young massive stars (Mitteilungen der Universitäts-Sternwarte zu Jena Nr. 172)

A very important property of very young and massive stars (BN objects) is their intensive mass loss. We describe the main methods to derive the mass loss rates. Available observations are used to characterize the ionized stellar winds and the CO flows. The results are confronted with theories describing the anisotropic mass loss.     

Outflows from massive blue stars

We present in this contribution a revision of the origin, main properties and open issues in the field of winds of massive blue stars, with a particular emphasis in the ultraviolet observations     

Stochastic mass loss rate fluctuations and evolution of massive stars

Stochastic fluctuations were superimposed on the rate of mass loss as determined according to the radiation-pressure stellar-wind theory to evaluate the effects on the evolution of a 60-solar masses star.If the variations in the rate are of the order of those observed, there are no significant modifications of the stellar parameters, and the agreement between theory and observations cannot be improved taking into account stochastic fluctuations.     

Stellar winds from hot low-mass stars

Stellar winds appear as a persistent feature of hot stars, irrespective of their wide range of different luminosities, masses, and chemical composition. Among the massive stars, the Wolf–Rayet types show considerably stronger mass loss than the O stars. Among hot low-mass stars, stellar winds are seen at central stars of planetary nebulae, where again the hydrogen-deficient stars show much stronger winds than those central stars with “normal” composition. We also studied mass-loss from a few extreme helium stars and sdOs. Their mass-loss rate roughly follows the same proportionality with luminosity to the power 1.5 as the massive O stars. This relation roughly marks a lower limit for the mass loss from hot stars of all kinds, and provides evidence that radiation pressure on spectral lines is the basic mechanism at work. For certain classes of stars the mass-loss rates lie significantly above this relation, for reasons that are not yet fully understood. Mass loss from low-mass stars may affect their evolution, by reducing the envelope mass, and can easily prevent diffusion from establishing atmospheric abundance patterns. In close binary systems, their winds can feed the accretion onto a companion.     

Mass loss and shell masses of close binary stars

From the values of period changes for 6 close binary stars the mass transfer rate was calculated. Comparing these values M_t with the values of shell masses M_sh, the expression $$lg \dot M_t = \begin{array}{*{20}c} {4.24} \\ { \pm 24} \\ \end{array} + \begin{array}{*{20}c} {0.63} \\ { \pm 6} \\ \end{array} lg M_{sh} $$ Was derived. The analysis of this expression points out the initial character of the outflow of matter, and one may determine the time interval of the substitution of the shell matter. So one may conclude that for a certain mass transfer rate, a certain amount of matter accumulates in the nearby regions of the system. The study of orbital period changes of close binary stellar systems led to the idea that these secular and irregular changes are due to the mass loss and to the redistribution of masses in a close binary. Secular changes of orbital periods are known for approximately 400 eclipsing binary stars. For many stars, including cataclysmic binaries, irregular period changes are known. Thus, the mass loss and the matter redistribution in close binaries are often observed phenomena.     

Mass loss of stars on the asymptotic giant branch

As low- and intermediate-mass stars reach the asymptotic giant branch (AGB), they have developed into intriguing and complex objects that are major players in the cosmic gas/dust cycle. At this stage, their appearance and evolution are strongly affected by a range of dynamical processes. Large-scale convective flows bring newly-formed chemical elements to the stellar surface and, together with pulsations, they trigger shock waves in the extended stellar atmosphere. There, massive outflows of gas and dust have their origin, which enrich the interstellar medium and, eventually, lead to a transformation of the cool luminous giants into white dwarfs. Dust grains forming in the upper atmospheric layers play a critical role in the wind acceleration process, by scattering and absorbing stellar photons and transferring their outward-directed momentum to the surrounding gas through collisions. Recent progress in high-angular-resolution instrumentation, from the visual to the radio regime, is leading to valuable new insights into the complex dynamical atmospheres of AGB stars and their wind-forming regions. Observations are revealing asymmetries and inhomogeneities in the photospheric and dust-forming layers which vary on time-scales of months, as well as more long-lived large-scale structures in the circumstellar envelopes. High-angular-resolution observations indicate at what distances from the stars dust condensation occurs, and they give information on the chemical composition and sizes of dust grains in the close vicinity of cool giants. These are essential constraints for building realistic models of wind acceleration and developing a predictive theory of mass loss for AGB stars, which is a crucial ingredient of stellar and galactic chemical evolution models. At present, it is still not fully possible to model all these phenomena from first principles, and to predict the mass-loss rate based on fundamental stellar parameters only. However, much progress has been made in recent years, which is described in this review. We complement this by discussing how observations of emission from circumstellar molecules and dust can be used to estimate the characteristics of the mass loss along the AGB, and in different environments. We also briefly touch upon the issue of binarity.     

The interplay of mass loss and core overshooting in massive stars

In this study analytic models are used in an attempt to constrain the overshooting parameter in massive stars. It is found that core overshooting up to of order 20% is required to explain the non-existence of red supergiants withM _bol<–10. Furthermore, a critical mass of 60M marks the upper mass limit for stars that can undergo a red supergiant phase. The analysis employed clearly demonstrates an important interplay between mass loss and core overhooting-highlighting the difficulty of establishing the uniqueness of a given set of results.     

Lyman continuum photons emission from hot stars

The number of Lyman continuum photons emitted from stars with temperatures between 15 000K and 50 000K for several values of the surface gravity are calculated on the basis of Kurucz's new models of stellar atmospheres. Results are compared with previous data.     

Multicomponent stellar wind from hot subdwarfs stars

Stellar wind from hot subdwarf stars is mainly accelerated by the interaction of ultraviolet photospheric radiation with metals, mainly oxygen. Absorbing ions share momentum through Coulombic collisions with the remaining passive part of the plasma (namely protons). We found that in the case of the winds from hot subdwarfs, interactions could be so small that they stop the momentum transfer between the passive bulk of plasma and absorbing ions. As a result wind decouples at a certain point.     

Gamma rays from colliding winds of massive stars

Colliding winds of massive binaries have long been considered as potential sites of non-thermal high-energy photon production. This is motivated by the detection of non-thermal spectra in the radio band, as well as by correlation studies of yet unidentified EGRET γ-ray sources with source populations appearing in star formation regions. This work re-considers the basic radiative processes and its properties that lead to high energy photon production in long-period massive star systems. We show that Klein–Nishina effects as well as the anisotropic nature of the inverse Compton scattering, the dominating leptonic emission process, likely yield spectral and variability signatures in the γ-ray domain at or above the sensitivity of current or upcoming gamma ray instruments like GLAST-LAT. In addition to all relevant radiative losses, we include propagation (such as convection in the stellar wind) as well as photon absorption effects, which a priori can not be neglected. The calculations are applied to WR 140 and WR 147, and predictions for their detectability in the γ-ray regime are provided. Physically similar specimen of their kind like WR 146, WR 137, WR 138, WR 112 and WR 125 may be regarded as candidate sources at GeV energies for near-future γ-ray experiments. Finally, we discuss several aspects relevant for eventually identifying this source class as a γ-ray emitting population. Thereby we utilize our findings on the expected radiative behavior of typical colliding wind binaries in the γ-ray regime as well as its expected spatial distribution on the γ-ray sky.