Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Apr 1980
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980sci...208....9c&link_type=abstract
Science, vol. 208, Apr. 4, 1980, p. 9-17. NSF-supported research.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
22
Radiation Pressure, Stellar Evolution, Stellar Luminosity, Stellar Mass Ejection, Stellar Winds, X Ray Sources, Black Holes (Astronomy), Companion Stars, Hot Stars, Interstellar Gas, Interstellar Radiation, Neutron Stars, Stellar Models
Scientific paper
Current knowledge of the nature and consequences of strong winds from OB stars is reviewed. Evidence for stellar wind in O-type stars was first obtained from rocket-borne UV spectrometry exhibiting P Cygni-type line profiles, in which emission lines are shifted to the red and absorption to the blue. UV, radio and IR observations indicate that O-type stars manifest stellar winds with mass loss rates from 10 to the -8th to 10 to the -5th solar masses/year, luminosities between 10 to the 4.5 and 10 to the 5.5 solar luminosities, and terminal stellar wind velocities from 1200 to 4000 km/sec; strong stellar winds are also observed in B supergiants. The strong stellar winds of OB stars are believed to be driven by radiation pressure, however the exact mechanism is uncertain. The strong winds may carry away a substantial fraction of the stellar mass, affecting stellar evolution and creating an expanding cavity of hot low-density gas surrounded by a relatively dense shell of swept-up interstellar gas in the interstellar medium. Strong and weak X-ray sources associated with OB stars may be used to probe the nature of the winds, and further spaceborne UV and X-ray observations of OB stars are expected to reveal much about the nature of strong stellar winds.
Conti Peter S.
McCray Richard
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