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Westerlund 1 as a Template for Massive Star Evolution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 December 2007

Ignacio Negueruela ,
J. Simon Clark ,
Lucy J. Hadfield  and
Paul A. Crowther
Ignacio Negueruela
Affiliation:
Departamento de Física, Ingeniería de Sistemas y Teoría de la Señal, Universidad de Alicante, Apdo. 99, E03080 Alicante, Spain email: [email protected]
J. Simon Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA, United Kingdom
Lucy J. Hadfield
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S3 7RH, United Kingdom
Paul A. Crowther
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, S3 7RH, United Kingdom
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Abstract

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With a dynamical mass Mdyn ~ 1.3×105 M⊙ and a lower limit Mcl > 5 × 104 M⊙ from star counts, Westerlund 1 is the most massive young open cluster known in the Galaxy and thus the perfect laboratory to study massive star evolution. We have developed a comprehensive spectral classification scheme for supergiants based on features in the 6000–9000Å range, which allows us to identify > 30 very luminous supergiants in Westerlund 1 and ~ 100 other less evolved massive stars, which join the large population of Wolf-Rayet stars already known. Though detailed studies of these stars are still pending, preliminary rough estimates suggest that the stars we see are evolving to the red part of the HR diagram at approximately constant luminosity.

Keywords

stars: early-type – stars: evolution – supergiants – stars: Wolf-Rayet – open clusters and associations: individual (Westerlund 1)
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 3 , Symposium S250: Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines , December 2007 , pp. 301 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2008

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