Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2005-08-11
Astrophys.J.634:1286-1292,2005
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Accepted by the Astrophysical Journal
Scientific paper
10.1086/497065
Deriving the physical properties of red supergiants (RSGs) depends upon accurate corrections for reddening by dust. We use our recent modeling of the optical spectra of RSGs to address this topic. We find: (1) Previous broad-band studies have underestimated the correction for extinction in the visible, and hence the luminousities, if derived from V. (2) A significant fraction of RSGs in Galactic OB associations and clusters show up to several magnitudes of excess visual extinction compared to OB stars in the same regions; we argue that this is likely due to circumstellar dust around the RSGs. (3) RSGs contribute dust grains at the rate of $3 \times 10^{-8} M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$ in the solar neighborhood, comparable to what we estimate for late-type WC Wolf-Rayet stars, $1 \times 10^{-7} M_\odot$ yr$^{-1}$ kpc$^{-2}$. In the solar neighborhood this represents only a few percent of the dust production (which is dominated by low-mass AGBs), but we note that in low-metallicity starbursts, dust production by RSGs would likely dominate over other sources.
Clayton Geoffrey
Josselin Eric
Levesque Emily M.
Massey Philip
Olsen Knut A. G.
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