Noon Colloquium

An introduction to radiatively driven stellar winds

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Date: Tuesday, April 30th

Time: 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm

Place: 4421 Sterling Hall, Noon Talk

Speaker: Wolf-Rainer Hamann, Institute for Physics and Astronomy, University of Potsdam

Abstract: Stellar spectra that are dominated by bright and broad emission lines have been discovered by the French astronomers Wolf and Rayet 150 years ago, and must be attributed to strong outflow of matter. But only with the advent of ultraviolet spectroscopy in the 1970s it became known that stellar winds are ubiquitous among hot and luminous stars.

In principle, such winds can be driven by radiation pressure. The quantitative analysis of stellar-wind spectra requires adequate modeling of expanding stellar atmospheres. The evolution of massive stars and their final fate depends on their mass loss. This refers especially to the mass that might finally collapse into a Black Hole - i.e. such objects which are observed by gravitational waves when merging.

Host: Professor Emeritus Jay Gallagher

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