The effects of red supergiant mass loss on supernova ejecta and the circumburst medium

Abstract

Massive stars becoming red supergiants lose a significant amount of their mass during that brief evolutionary phase. They then either explode as a hydrogen-rich supernova (SN Type II), or continue to evolve as a hotter supergiant (before exploding). The slow, dusty ejecta of the red supergiant will be over-run by the hot star wind and/or SN ejecta. I will present estimates of the conditions for this interaction and discuss some of the implications.

Invited review, in "Hot and Cool: Bridging Gaps in Massive Star Evolution", Pasadena (USA), November 2008. ASP Conference Series, 10 pages