The following document lists the file abstract/HLAMERS_HOTSTAR.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
We propose to study the winds of massive stars in the high
mass-loss phase of their evolution, i.e. in stages from O- to
A-supergiants. The intention is to use the unique spectroscopic
and photometric capability of ISO to measure accurate strengths
and profiles of H and He lines formed in stellar winds,
and the IR-continuum which is also formed in the wind.
By means of detailed NLTE radiative transfer and line formation
techniques it will be possible to determine rates of mass-loss
and stratification of wind velocity fields much more precisely
than hitherto possible. (The present best estimates of the
mass loss rates of A and B-stars have an uncertainty of one order
of magnitude
The results of this study will have important repercussions
for our understanding of massive star evolution. They will
also provide a crucial test for the theory of radiation driven
winds, which is normally applied to predict stellar wind
properties as function of stellar parameters. Last but not
least, the results will be used to calibrate the wind
momentum-luminosity relation of blue supergiants which has
been found very recently and which has great potential for
extragalactic distance determinations.