Investigating the metallicity dependence of the mass-loss rate relation of red supergiants

Abstract

Red supergiants (RSGs) are cool and evolved massive stars exhibiting enhanced mass loss compared to their main sequence phase, affecting their evolution and fate. However, the theory of the wind-driving mechanism is not well-established and the metallicity dependence has not been determined. We aim to uniformly measure the mass-loss rates of large samples of RSGs in different galaxies with $-0.7\lesssim [Z]\lesssim 0$ to investigate whether there is a potential correlation with metallicity. We collected photometry from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared for all our RSG candidates to construct their spectral energy distribution (SED). Our final sample includes 893 RSG candidates in the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC), 396 in NGC 6822, 527 in the Milky Way, 1425 in M31, and 1854 in M33. Each SED was modelled using the radiative transfer code DUSTY under the same assumptions to derive the mass-loss rate. The mass-loss rates range from approximately $10^{-9}{M}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ to $10^{-5}{M}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$ with an average value of $1.5\times 10^{-7}{M}_{\odot }$ yr${}^{-1}$. We provided a new mass-loss rate relation as a function of luminosity and effective temperature for both the SMC and Milky Way and compared our mass-loss rates with those derived in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). The turning point in the mass-loss rate vs. luminosity relation differs by around 0.2 dex between the LMC and SMC. The mass-loss rates of the Galactic RSGs at $\log (L/L_{\odot })<4.5$ were systematically lower than those determined in the other galaxies, possibly due to uncertainties in the interstellar extinction. We found 60-70% of the RSGs to be dusty. The results for M31 and M33 are inconclusive because of source blending at distances above 0.5 Mpc, given the resolution of Spitzer. Overall, we found similar mass-loss rates among the galaxies, indicating no strong correlation with metallicity.

accepted in A&A

References in corpus (57)

• The Gaia mission
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA)
• Gaia Data Release 3: Summary of the content and survey properties
• A grid of MARCS model atmospheres for late-type stars I. Methods and general properties
• Estimating distances from parallaxes. V: Geometric and photogeometric distances to 1.47 billion stars in Gaia Early Data Release 3
• Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics (MESA): Pulsating Variable Stars, Rotation, Convective Boundaries, and Energy Conservation
• Mass loss from hot massive stars
• The Optical to Mid-Infrared Extinction Law Based on the APOGEE, Gaia DR2, Pan-STARRS1, SDSS, APASS, 2MASS and WISE Surveys
• SkyMapper Southern Survey: Second Data Release (DR2)
• A distance determination to the Small Magellanic Cloud with an accuracy of better than 2 percent based on late-type eclipsing binary stars
• Updated Gaia-2MASS 3D maps of Galactic interstellar dust
• A new mass-loss rate prescription for red supergiants
• Spitzer SAGE-SMC Infrared Photometry of Massive Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The wind speeds, dust content, and mass-loss rates of evolved AGB and RSG stars at varying metallicity
• Probing the mass-loss history of AGB and red supergiant stars from CO rotational line profiles I. Theoretical model -- Mass-loss history unravelled in VY CMa
• POSYDON: A General-Purpose Population Synthesis Code with Detailed Binary-Evolution Simulations
• Atmospheric dynamics and the mass loss process in red supergiant stars
• Dust and Gas in the Magellanic Clouds from the HERITAGE Herschel Key Project. II. Gas-to-Dust Ratio Variations across ISM Phases
• Three-dimensional extinction maps: Inverting inter-calibrated extinction catalogues
• Theory and Diagnostics of Hot Star Mass Loss
• A dusty veil shading Betelgeuse during its Great Dimming
• The evolution of Red Supergiants to supernova in the LMC cluster NGC 2100
• What causes the large extensions of red-supergiant atmospheres? Comparisons of interferometric observations with 1-D hydrostatic, 3-D convection, and 1-D pulsating model atmospheres
• Red Supergiant Stars as Cosmic Abundance Probes: KMOS Observations in NGC 6822
• Red Supergiants as Cosmic Abundance Probes: The Magellanic Clouds
• Analytic, dust-independent mass-loss rates for red supergiant winds initiated by turbulent pressure
• Evolved Massive Stars at Low-metallicity V. Mass-Loss Rate of Red Supergiant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Photometric metallicity map of the Small Magellanic Cloud
• Vigorous atmospheric motion in the red supergiant star Antares
• The VLT-FLAMES Tarantula Survey. XXX. Red stragglers in the clusters Hodge 301 and SL 639
• Internal motions in OB-associations with Gaia DR2
• The Great Dimming of Betelgeuse: a Surface Mass Ejection (SME) and its Consequences
• The Red Supergiant Content of M31 and M33
• The Quest for the Missing Dust: II -- Two Orders of Magnitude of Evolution in the Dust-to-Gas Ratio Resolved Within Local Group Galaxies
• Exploring the Mass Loss Histories of the Red Supergiants
• ALMA detection of CO rotational line emission in red supergiant stars of the massive young star cluster RSGC1 -- Determination of a new mass-loss rate prescription for red supergiants
• Boil-off of red supergiants: mass loss and type II-P supernovae
• Establishing a mass-loss rate relation for red supergiants in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• Unlocking Galactic Wolf-Rayet stars with $\text{Gaia}$ DR2 II: Cluster and Association membership
• The Sample of Red Supergiants in Twelve Low-Mass Galaxies of the Local Group
• The UK Infrared Telescope M33 monitoring project. IV. Variable red giant stars across the galactic disc
• The Araucaria Project. Distances to Nine Galaxies Based on a Statistical Analysis of their Carbon Stars (JAGB Method)
• Red supergiants in M31 and M33 II. The Mass Loss Rate
• On the Red Supergiant Wind Kink. A Universal mass-loss concept for massive stars
• Evolved Massive Stars at Low-metallicity II. Red Supergiant Stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• The effect of mass loss in models of red supergiants in the Small Magellanic Cloud
• A machine-learning photometric classifier for massive stars in nearby galaxies I. The method
• Spitzer Photometry of ~1 Million Stars in M31 and 15 Other Galaxies
• Dusty Stellar Birth and Death in the Metal-Poor Galaxy NGC 6822
• Red Supergiant Candidates for Multimessenger Monitoring of the Next Galactic Supernova
• Red Supergiant Mass Loss and Mass-Loss Rates
• Evolved Massive Stars at Low-metallicity IV. Using 1.6 $\mu$m "H-bump" to identify red supergiant stars: a case study of NGC 6822
• The temperatures of red supergiants in low metallicity environments
• Investigating episodic mass loss in evolved massive stars: II. Physical properties of red supergiants at subsolar metallicity
• Episodic mass loss in the very luminous red supergiant [W60] B90 in the Large Magellanic Cloud
• HI line observations of 290 evolved stars made with the Nancay Radio Telescope -- I. Data
• Investigating episodic mass loss in evolved massive stars: III. Spectroscopy of dusty massive stars in three northern galaxies

Cited by in corpus (6)

• The Demographics of Binary Companions to Stripped-Envelope Supernovae: Confronting Observations with Population Synthesis
• Mass loading of outflows from evolving Young Massive Clusters
• A constant upper luminosity limit of cool supergiant stars down to the extremely low metallicity of I Zw 18
• A machine-learning photometric classifier for massive stars in nearby galaxies II. The catalog
• Impact of stellar rotation on type II supernova progenitor masses from pre-explosion imaging
• Revisiting the Evolutionary Status of Massive Stars at the central parsec of the Milky Way