The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey I: Introduction and observational overview

Abstract

The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey (VFTS) is an ESO Large Programme that has obtained multi-epoch optical spectroscopy of over 800 massive stars in the 30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Here we introduce our scientific motivations and give an overview of the survey targets, including optical and near-infrared photometry and comprehensive details of the data reduction. One of the principal objectives was to detect massive binary systems via variations in their radial velocities, thus shaping the multi-epoch observing strategy. Spectral classifications are given for the massive emission-line stars observed by the survey, including the discovery of a new Wolf-Rayet star (VFTS 682, classified as WN5h), 2' to the northeast of R136. To illustrate the diversity of objects encompassed by the survey, we investigate the spectral properties of sixteen targets identified by Gruendl & Chu from Spitzer photometry as candidate young stellar objects or stars with notable mid-infrared excesses. Detailed spectral classification and quantitative analysis of the O- and B-type stars in the VFTS sample, paying particular attention to the effects of rotational mixing and binarity, will be presented in a series of future articles to address fundamental questions in both stellar and cluster evolution.

Accepted by A&A, 52 pages (main body: 19 pages, supplementary tables: 33 pages), v3: two classifications updated to match a parallel paper

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Cited by in corpus (208)

• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Giant Planets, Oscillations, Rotation, and Massive Stars
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• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey VIII. Multiplicity properties of the O-type star population
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• The incidence of stellar mergers and mass gainers among massive stars
• An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst
• The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. I. Far-ultraviolet spectroscopic census and the origin of HeII 1640 in young star clusters
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XII. Rotational velocities of the single O-type stars
• The Wolf-Rayet stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud: A comprehensive analysis of the WN class
• Wind modelling of very massive stars up to 300 solar masses
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• Predictions for mass-loss rates and terminal wind velocities of massive O-type stars
• The Eddington factor as the key to understand the winds of the most massive stars. Evidence for a Gamma-dependence of Wolf-Rayet type mass loss
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXII. Multiplicity properties of the B-type stars
• The evolution of rotating very massive stars with LMC composition
• Massive main sequence stars evolving at the Eddington limit
• Resolving stellar populations with crowded field 3D spectroscopy
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVII. Physical and wind properties of massive stars at the top of the main sequence
• The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring: I. Observational campaign and OB-type spectroscopic binaries
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey - XI. A census of the hot luminous stars and their feedback in 30 Doradus
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey X: Evidence for a bimodal distribution of rotational velocities for the single early B-type stars
• Spectral Classification of O2-3.5If*/WN5-7 stars
• The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. III. The most massive stars and their clumped winds
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVI. The optical+NIR extinction laws in 30 Doradus and the photometric determination of the effective temperatures of OB stars
• Theory and Diagnostics of Hot Star Mass Loss
• Heavy-element yields and abundances of Asymptotic Giant Branch models with a Small Magellanic Cloud metallicity
• Yellow and Red Supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The R136 star cluster dissected with Hubble Space Telescope/STIS. II. Physical properties of the most massive stars in R136
• Variability of OB stars from TESS southern Sectors 1-13 and high-resolution IACOB and OWN spectroscopy
• Properties of OB star-black hole systems derived from detailed binary evolution models
• Nitrogen line spectroscopy in O-stars -- II. Surface nitrogen abundances for O-stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey III: A very massive star in apparent isolation from the massive cluster R136
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XIV. The O-Type Stellar Content of 30 Doradus
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XXIX. Massive star formation in the local 30 Doradus starburst
• Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project. III. Photometric Catalog and Resulting Constraints on the Progression of Star Formation in the 30 Doradus Region
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• The Massive Star-forming Regions Omnibus X-ray Catalog
• An X-ray quiet black hole born with a negligible kick in a massive binary within the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXI. Stellar spin rates of O-type spectroscopic binaries
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXIV. Stellar properties of the O-type giants and supergiants in 30 Doradus
• Spectroscopic and physical parameters of Galactic O-type stars. III. Mass discrepancy and rotational mixing
• Detailed models of interacting short-period massive binary stars
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XIX. B-type Supergiants - Atmospheric parameters and nitrogen abundances to investigate the role of binarity and the width of the main sequence
• The metallicity dependence of envelope inflation in massive stars
• Nitrogen line spectroscopy in O-stars -- III. The earliest O-stars
• Response to comment on "An excess of massive stars in the local 30 Doradus starburst"
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XVIII. Classifications and radial velocities of the B-type stars
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. VII. A low velocity dispersion for the young massive cluster R136
• Discovery of the massive overcontact binary VFTS 352: Evidence for enhanced internal mixing
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. IX. The interstellar medium seen through Diffuse Interstellar Bands and neutral sodium
• A Modern Search for Wolf-Rayet Stars in the Magellanic Clouds. IV. A Final Census
• Atmospheric NLTE-models for the spectroscopic analysis of blue stars with winds. IV. Porosity in physical and velocity space
• On the association between core-collapse supernovae and HII regions
• Massive star evolution : rotation, winds, and overshooting vectors in the Mass-Luminosity plane I. A calibrated grid of rotating single star models
• Two bi-stability jumps in theoretical wind models for massive stars and the implications for Luminous Blue Variable supernovae
• The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring: III. Atmosphere analysis of double-lined spectroscopic systems
• Very Massive Stars: a metallicity-dependent upper-mass limit, slow winds, and the self-enrichment of Globular Clusters
• The IACOB project: A grid-based automatic tool for the quantitative spectroscopic analysis of O-stars
• Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project: Unraveling Tarantula's Web. I. Observational overview and first results
• Nitrogen line spectroscopy of O-stars -- I. Nitrogen III emission line formation revisited
• The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring VI: Characterisation of hidden companions in 51 single-lined O-type binaries, a flat mass-ratio distribution, and black-hole binary candidates
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey VI: Evidence for rotation of the young massive cluster R136
• Did the infant R136 and NGC 3603 clusters undergo residual gas expulsion?
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: massive stars at low metallicity. I. Project Description
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXVI: Properties of the O-dwarf population in 30 Doradus
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• The IACOB project. VII. The rotational properties of Galactic massive O-type stars revisited
• Hubble Tarantula Treasury Project. IV. The extinction law
• Binary Stars in the New Millennium
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XIII: On the nature of O Vz stars in 30 Doradus
• The young massive SMC cluster NGC 330 seen by MUSE. I. Observations and stellar content
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXV. Surface nitrogen abundances of O-type giants and supergiants
• The fates of massive stars: exploring uncertainties in stellar evolution with METISSE
• LMC Blue Supergiant Stars and the Calibration of the Flux-weighted Gravity--Luminosity Relationship
• The VMC survey VII. Reddening map of the 30 Doradus field and the structure of the cold interstellar medium
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XXX. Red stragglers in the clusters Hodge 301 and SL 639
• The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring. IV. Double-lined photometric binaries
• Gaia DR2 reveals a very massive runaway star ejected from R136
• The extinction law inside the 30 Doradus nebula
• Stellar evolution of massive stars with a radiative alpha-omega dynamo
• Clues on the Origin and Evolution of Massive Contact Binaries: Atmosphere Analysis of VFTS 352
• The B-type Binaries Characterisation Programme I. Orbital solutions for the 30 Doradus population
• Massive Stars in the Galaxies of the Local Group
• Core-Collapse Supernovae in Binaries as the Origin of Galactic Hyper-Runaway Stars
• The circumstellar environment and evolutionary state of the supergiant B[e] star Wd1-9
• Shedding Light on the Isolation of Luminous Blue Variables
• Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE: I. Spectral and nebular content around R136
• The Panchromatic Hubble Andromeda Treasury IV. A Probabilistic Approach to Inferring the High Mass Stellar Initial Mass Function and Other Power-law Functions
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey II: R139 revealed as a massive binary system
• The deep OB star population in Carina from the VST Photometric H$\alpha$ Survey (VPHAS+)
• Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): a spectroscopic VLT monitoring survey of massive stars in the SMC
• Atmospheric NLTE models for the spectroscopic analysis of blue stars with winds. V. Complete comoving frame transfer, and updated modeling of X-ray emission
• Reddening map and recent star formation in the Magellanic Clouds based on OGLE IV Cepheids
• Physics and evolution of the most massive stars in 30 Dor. Mass loss, envelope inflation, and a variable upper stellar mass limit
• The IACOB project: II. On the scatter of O-dwarf spectral type -- effective temperature calibrations
• First stellar spectroscopy in Leo P
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: XXVIII. Nitrogen abundances for apparently single dwarf and giant B-type stars with small projected rotational velocities
• Evolutionary tracks, ejecta, and ionizing photons from intermediate-mass to very massive stars with PARSEC
• Blue supergiants as descendants of magnetic main sequence stars
• A dearth of young and bright massive stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Eclipsing binary stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Results from the EROS-2, OGLE and VMC surveys
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: XXXI. Radial velocities and multiplicity constraints of red supergiant stars in 30 Doradus
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey: Observational evidence for two distinct populations of massive runaway stars in 30 Doradus
• Shocks and Star Formation in Stephan's Quintet. I. Gemini Spectroscopy of Hα-bright knots
• Spectral classification and properties of the O Vz stars in the Galactic O-Star Spectroscopic Survey (GOSSS)
• The O star hinterland of the Galactic starburst, NGC 3603
• A peculiar Of star in the Local Group galaxy IC 1613
• Evolved Massive Stars at Low-metallicity III. A Source Catalog for the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Stripped-Envelope Stars in Different Metallicity Environments I. Evolutionary Phases, Classification and Populations
• The Tarantula Massive Binary Monitoring V. R 144: a wind-eclipsing binary with a total mass > 140 Msun
• Stellar population of the superbubble N206 in the LMC I. Analysis of the Of-type stars
• Multiplicity of the red supergiant population in the young massive cluster NGC 330
• The VMC Survey XXII. Hierarchical Star Formation in the 30 Doradus-N158-N159-N160 Star-Forming Complex
• A VLT/FLAMES survey for massive binaries in Westerlund 1: VII. Cluster census
• X-ray properties of early-type stars in the Tarantula Nebula from T-ReX
• 2dF-AAOmega spectroscopy of massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds: The north-eastern region of the Large Magellanic Cloud
• An absence of binary companions to Wolf-Rayet stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud: implications for mass loss and black hole masses at low metallicity
• Gaia and HST astrometry of the very massive $\sim$150 $M_{\odot }$ candidate runaway star VFTS682
• The B-type Binaries Characterisation Programme II. VFTS 291: A stripped star from a recent mass transfer phase
• Radiative and mechanical feedback into the molecular gas in the Large Magellanic Cloud. II. 30 Doradus
• Formation of Very Young Massive Clusters and implications for globular clusters
• Modeling contact binaries, II. The effect of energy transfer
• A high fraction of close massive binary stars at low metallicity
• Physical parameters and evolutionary route for the LMC interacting binary OGLE 05155332-6925581
• The Discovery of a Rare WO-type Wolf-Rayet Star in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The young massive SMC cluster NGC 330 seen by MUSE III. Stellar parameters and rotational velocities
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXVII. Physical parameters of B-type main-sequence binary systems in the Tarantula nebula
• Extending the extinction law in 30 Doradus to the infrared with JWST
• A rare early-type star revealed in the Wing of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• HST astrometry in the 30 Doradus region: II. Runaway stars from new proper motions in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• A systematic study of super-Eddington layers in the envelopes of massive stars
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• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey V. The peculiar B[e]-like supergiant, VFTS698, in 30 Doradus
• Mass loss and stellar superwinds
• Reverse Algols and hydrogen-rich Wolf-Rayet stars from very massive binaries
• Binary-corrected velocity dispersions from single- and multi-epoch radial velocities: massive stars in R136 as a test case
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• The Wolf-Rayet binaries of the nitrogen sequence in the Large Magellanic Cloud: spectroscopy, orbital analysis, formation, and evolution
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XV. VFTS 822: a candidate Herbig B[e] star at low metallicity
• Helium and Nitrogen Enrichment in Massive Main Sequence Stars: Mechanisms and Implications for the Origin of WNL Stars
• Comparing hypervelocity star populations from the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Milky Way
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive stars at low metallicity. IV. Spectral analysis methods and exemplary results for O stars
• Proper motions of OB stars in the far Carina Arm
• A search for strong magnetic fields in massive and very massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds
• Empirical mass-loss rates and clumping properties of O-type stars in the LMC
• Spectral modelling of the Alpha Virginis (Spica) binary system
• Observational constraints on the likelihood of ${}^{26}$Al in planet-forming environments
• Properties of the Be-type stars in 30 Doradus
• A new automated tool for the spectral classification of OB stars
• Melnick 33Na: a very massive colliding wind binary system in 30 Doradus
• Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE II. The spectroscopic Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of OB stars in NGC 2070
• Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): Enhanced multiplicity of early B-type dwarfs and giants at $Z=0.2{\mathrm{Z}}_{\odot }$
• Supersonic turbulence in Giant HII Regions: clues from 30 Doradus
• Constraints on the multiplicity of the most massive stars known: R136 a1, a2, a3, and c
• Spectroscopic Confirmation of the Dragonfish Association: The Galaxy's Most Luminosity OB Association
• HST astrometry in the 30 Doradus region: measuring proper motions of individual stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud
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• A Study of Wolf-Rayet stars Formed via Chemically Homogeneous Evolution
• The hydrogen clock to infer the upper stellar mass
• A modern guide to quantitative spectroscopy of massive OB stars
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• Low-mass pre--main-sequence stars in the Magellanic Clouds
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• Geometry of the Large Magellanic Cloud Using Multi- wavelength Photometry of Classical Cepheids
• VLT/X-shooter spectroscopy of massive young stellar objects in the 30 Doradus region of the Large Magellanic Cloud
• On the Effects of Subvirial Initial Conditions and the Birth Temperature of R136
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• An interferometric study of B star multiplicity
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• Emission-line stars in the LMC: the Armagh survey, and a metacatalogue
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• Two new Wolf-Rayet stars in the LMC
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive Stars at Low Metallicity: XI. Pipeline-determined Physical Properties of Magellanic Cloud OB Stars
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey XXXII. Low-luminosity late O-type stars -- classification, main physical parameters, and silicon abundances
• Numerical Tests of Rotational Mixing in Massive Stars with the new Population Synthesis Code BONNFIRES
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• Turbulence in compact to giant H II regions
• A comprehensive grid of massive binary evolution models for the Galaxy - Surface properties of post-mass transfer stars
• HST/COS Spectra of the Wind Lines of VFTS 102 and 285
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: massive stars at low metallicity: XII. The clumped winds of O-type (super)giants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
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• Anomalous extinction towards NGC 1938
• Enhanced Mass Loss of Very Massive Stars: Impact on the Evolution, Binary Processes, and Remnant Mass Spectrum
• X-Shooting ULLYSES: Massive Stars at Low Metallicity X. Physical Parameters and Feedback of Massive Stars in the LMC N11 B Star-Forming Region
• Gaia-ESO Survey: massive stars in the Carina Nebula. II. The spectroscopic analysis of the O-star population
• Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): Projected rotational velocities
• The impact of wind mass loss on nucleosynthesis and yields of very massive stars at low metallicity
• Rotational synchronisation of B-type binaries in 30 Doradus
• Binarity at LOw Metallicity (BLOeM): Bayesian inference of natal kicks from inert black hole binaries
• Evolutionary models for the Very Massive Stars in the R136 cluster of 30 Doradus in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• The NGC 346 massive star census: Nitrogen abundances for apparently single, narrow lined, hydrogen core burning B-type stars
• The VLT-Flames Tarantula Survey: an overview of the VFTS results so far
• The observed multiplicity properties of B-type stars in the Galactic young open cluster NGC 6231
• Extreme adaptive optics astrometry of R136. Searching for high proper motion stars
• Detailed evolutionary models of massive contact binaries: I. Model grids and synthetic populations for the Magellanic Clouds
• A new sample of massive B-type contact binary candidates from the OGLE survey of the Magellanic Clouds
• The Tarantula massive binary monitoring VII. The nature of the eccentric O+BH binary candidate VFTS 812
• Spectroscopic Line Modeling of the Fastest Rotating O-type Stars