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Rotation: a fundamental parameter of massive stars

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 May 2016

N. Langer ,
A. Heger  and
J. Fliegner
N. Langer
Affiliation:
Universität Potsdam, Institut für Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, D-14415 Potsdam, Germany
A. Heger
Affiliation:
MPI für Astrophysik, D-85740 Garching, Germany
J. Fliegner
Affiliation:
MPI für Astrophysik, D-85740 Garching, Germany

Extract

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Massive stars are rapid rotators. Equatorial rotation velocities span the range vrot = 100–400 km s−1, with B stars rotating closest to their break-up speed vcrit (Howarth et al. 1997). During the last decade, many observations have revealed unusual surface abundances that may require additional internal mixing (beyond that of simple convection and overshooting) for their explanation, most important helium and nitrogen enrichment in main sequence O and B stars (Gies & Lambert 1992), in the SN 1987A progenitor (Fransson et al. 1989), and boron depletions in main sequence B stars (Venn et al. 1996). In particular the latter observations clearly point towards internal mixing and rule out a close binary origin of the abundance peculiarities (Fliegner et al. 1996). Altogether, the occurrence of some form of additional mixing responsible for altering the surface abundances in a large fraction, if not all massive stars appears to be beyond reasonable doubt, and mixing processes due to rotation are the most natural explanation.

Type
Stellar Interiors
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 189: Fundamental Stellar Properties: The Interaction Between Observation and Theory , 1997 , pp. 343 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1997 

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