Massive Stars

With masses of ~5-100 times the mass of the sun, massive stars live a very rapid and influential life. As cosmic engines they synthesis the elements we are all made of and distribute these in the universe through strong stellar winds during their life and in spectacular supernova explosions in their dead.

During their Hydrogen burning lifetime, massive stars show very different amount of Nitrogen and Helium on their surface, but often much larger amounts than found in the sun. These elements are synthesized in their cores, but unclear how they are transported to the surface while the star is still on the main sequence. Rotation, indicated by high surface velocities of most massive stars seems to be a key, but many questions remain. I am studying this problem using stellar evolution models including the theory of rotational mixing.

Download Tracks and Isochrones

Evolutionary track and isochrones of rotating stars, published in Brott et. al 2011a can be downloaded here . Please contact me, if questions arise.