ENHANCED MASS LOSS RATES IN RED SUPERGIANTS AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE CIRCUMSTELLAR MEDIUM

Abstract

In this work, we present models of massive stars between 15 and 23 M⊙ , with enhanced mass loss rates during the red supergiant phase. Our aim is to explore the impact of extreme red supergiant mass-loss on stellar evolution and on their circumstellar medium. We computed a set of numerical experiments, on the evolution of single stars with initial masses of 15, 18, 20 and, 23 M⊙ , and solar composition (Z = 0.014), using the numerical stellar code BEC. From these evolutionary models, we obtained time-dependent stellar wind parameters, that were used explicitly as inner boundary conditions in the hydrodynamical code ZEUS-3D, which simulates the gas dynamics in the circumstellar medium (CSM), thus coupling the stellar evolution to the dynamics of the CSM. We found that stars with extreme mass loss in the RSG phase behave as a larger mass stars.