Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants
Blue supergiants are the brightest stars in their host galaxies, and yet their evolutionary status has been a long-standing problem in stellar astrophysics. In this pioneering work, we present a large sample of 59 early B-type supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with newly derived stellar para...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad2074 |
| _version_ | 1797266211132669952 |
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| author | Athira Menon Andrea Ercolino Miguel A. Urbaneja Daniel J. Lennon Artemio Herrero Ryosuke Hirai Norbert Langer Abel Schootemeijer Emmanouil Chatzopoulos Juhan Frank Sagiv Shiber |
| author_facet | Athira Menon Andrea Ercolino Miguel A. Urbaneja Daniel J. Lennon Artemio Herrero Ryosuke Hirai Norbert Langer Abel Schootemeijer Emmanouil Chatzopoulos Juhan Frank Sagiv Shiber |
| author_sort | Athira Menon |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Blue supergiants are the brightest stars in their host galaxies, and yet their evolutionary status has been a long-standing problem in stellar astrophysics. In this pioneering work, we present a large sample of 59 early B-type supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with newly derived stellar parameters and identify the signatures of stars born from binary mergers among them. We simulate novel 1D merger models of binaries consisting of post main-sequence giants with helium-rich cores (primaries) and main-sequence companions (secondaries), and consider the effects of interaction of the secondary with the core of the primary along with the mixing induced by the merger in the envelope. Thereafter, the evolution of the newborn 17–43 $\,{{\rm{M}}}_{\odot }$ stars is followed until core-carbon depletion, close to their final pre-explosion stage. Unlike stars born alone with comparable masses, stars born from mergers of evolved binaries are blue throughout their core helium-burning phase and replicate the surface gravities and Hertzsprung–Russell diagram positions of most of our sample, thus indicating that B-type supergiants structurally resemble stars born from such mergers. Moreover, the large nitrogen-to-carbon and nitrogen-to-oxygen number ratios, coupled with helium enhancements exhibited by at least half our data sample, is uniquely reproduced by our merger models. Collectively, these findings provide compelling evidence toward the important role of binary mergers in producing the currently observed population of blue supergiants in our Universe. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:57:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5ed4309eb16e4e6db9e63bfcba502060 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2041-8205 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T00:57:05Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal Letters |
| spelling | doaj.art-5ed4309eb16e4e6db9e63bfcba5020602024-03-11T09:44:07ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal Letters2041-82052024-01-019632L4210.3847/2041-8213/ad2074Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue SupergiantsAthira Menon0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4234-4181Andrea Ercolino1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2807-5253Miguel A. Urbaneja2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9424-0501Daniel J. Lennon3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3063-4867Artemio Herrero4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8768-2179Ryosuke Hirai5https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8032-8174Norbert Langer6https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3026-0367Abel Schootemeijer7https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2715-7484Emmanouil Chatzopoulos8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8179-1654Juhan Frank9https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4467-5301Sagiv Shiber10https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6107-0887Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , Avenida Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain ; athira.menon@iac.es; Universidad de La Laguna , Departamento de Astrofísica, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, SpainArgelander Institut für Astronomie , Auf dem Hügel 71, DE-53121, Bonn, GermanyUniversität Innsbruck , Institut für Astro- und Teilchenphysik, Technikerstr. 25/8, 6020 Innsbruck, AustriaInstituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , Avenida Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain ; athira.menon@iac.esInstituto de Astrofísica de Canarias , Avenida Vía Láctea s/n, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain ; athira.menon@iac.es; Universidad de La Laguna , Departamento de Astrofísica, Avenida Astrofísico Francisco Sánchez s/n, 38206 La Laguna, Tenerife, SpainOzGrav: Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Gravitational Wave Discovery , Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia; School of Physics and Astronomy, Monash University , Clayton, Victoria 3800, AustraliaArgelander Institut für Astronomie , Auf dem Hügel 71, DE-53121, Bonn, Germany; Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie , Auf dem Hügel 69, DE-53121, Bonn, GermanyArgelander Institut für Astronomie , Auf dem Hügel 71, DE-53121, Bonn, GermanyDepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA; Hearne Institute of Theoretical Physics, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USADepartment of Physics & Astronomy, Louisiana State University , Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USABlue supergiants are the brightest stars in their host galaxies, and yet their evolutionary status has been a long-standing problem in stellar astrophysics. In this pioneering work, we present a large sample of 59 early B-type supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud with newly derived stellar parameters and identify the signatures of stars born from binary mergers among them. We simulate novel 1D merger models of binaries consisting of post main-sequence giants with helium-rich cores (primaries) and main-sequence companions (secondaries), and consider the effects of interaction of the secondary with the core of the primary along with the mixing induced by the merger in the envelope. Thereafter, the evolution of the newborn 17–43 $\,{{\rm{M}}}_{\odot }$ stars is followed until core-carbon depletion, close to their final pre-explosion stage. Unlike stars born alone with comparable masses, stars born from mergers of evolved binaries are blue throughout their core helium-burning phase and replicate the surface gravities and Hertzsprung–Russell diagram positions of most of our sample, thus indicating that B-type supergiants structurally resemble stars born from such mergers. Moreover, the large nitrogen-to-carbon and nitrogen-to-oxygen number ratios, coupled with helium enhancements exhibited by at least half our data sample, is uniquely reproduced by our merger models. Collectively, these findings provide compelling evidence toward the important role of binary mergers in producing the currently observed population of blue supergiants in our Universe.https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad2074Massive starsBinary starsB supergiant starsStellar evolutionary modelsSpectroscopyType II supernovae |
| spellingShingle | Athira Menon Andrea Ercolino Miguel A. Urbaneja Daniel J. Lennon Artemio Herrero Ryosuke Hirai Norbert Langer Abel Schootemeijer Emmanouil Chatzopoulos Juhan Frank Sagiv Shiber Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants The Astrophysical Journal Letters Massive stars Binary stars B supergiant stars Stellar evolutionary models Spectroscopy Type II supernovae |
| title | Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants |
| title_full | Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants |
| title_fullStr | Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants |
| title_short | Evidence for Evolved Stellar Binary Mergers in Observed B-type Blue Supergiants |
| title_sort | evidence for evolved stellar binary mergers in observed b type blue supergiants |
| topic | Massive stars Binary stars B supergiant stars Stellar evolutionary models Spectroscopy Type II supernovae |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ad2074 |
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