Stellar Evolution and Dynamics of Massive Stars
Summary
Massive stars, typically defined as those exceeding eight solar masses, undergo a rapid and complex lifecycle driven by successive nuclear fusion stages. From hydrogen burning on the main sequence through helium, carbon and heavier‐element fusion, these stars evolve into supergiants before culminating in core collapse and violent endpoints such as supernovae, black holes or neutron stars. Throughout their lives, radiation-driven winds and episodic mass ejections strip their envelopes, influencing internal mixing and angular momentum loss. Rotation, magnetic fields and close binary interactions further modulate their structure and fate: mass transfer or mergers can rejuvenate ageing cores, alter surface abundances and produce exotic transients. Dynamical processes in dense clusters, including gravitational encounters and supernova kicks, can expel massive stars as high‐velocity runaways, shaping the stellar content of galaxies. As primary engines of chemical enrichment and sources of ionising radiation, massive stars govern the evolution of star-forming regions, regulate feedback in galactic ecosystems and seed the universe with the heavy elements essential for planet formation and life.
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Stellar Evolution and Dynamics of Massive Stars publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in stellar evolution and dynamics of massive stars across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Binary merger: The coalescence of two stars in a binary system, leading to a single, often more massive and rapidly rotating object.
Metallicity: The proportion of elements heavier than helium in a star, typically denoted Z, which influences opacity, winds and evolution.
Stellar wind: A continuous outflow of gas driven from a star’s surface by radiation pressure, magnetic forces or pulsations.
Runaway star: A star moving through space at unusually high velocity, often ejected by dynamical interactions or supernova explosions in a binary.
Hertzsprung–Russell diagram: A plot of stellar luminosity versus surface temperature that reveals evolutionary stages and populations.
References
- Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants. The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2024).
- X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive stars at low metallicity. Astronomy & Astrophysics (2023).
- A Catalog of Early-type Runaway Stars from LAMOST DR8. The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (2024).
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