Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-03T11:47:36.773Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Massive stars: Feedback effects in the local universe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 August 2010

M. S. Oey
Affiliation:
Department of Astronomy, 830 Dennison Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042, USA
C. J. Clarke
Affiliation:
Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
Mario Livio
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
Eva Villaver
Affiliation:
Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
Get access

Summary

Massive stars as a population are the source of various feedback effects that critically impact the evolution of their host galaxies. We examine parameterizations of the high-mass stellar population and self-consistent parameterizations of the resulting feedback effects, including mechanical feedback, radiative feedback, and chemical feedback, as we understand them in the local universe. To date, it appears that the massive-star population follows a simple power-law clustering law that extends down to individual field massive stars, and the robust stellar IMF appears to have a constant upper-mass limit. These properties result in specific patterns in the H II-region luminosity function, and the ionization of the diffuse, warm, ionized medium. The resulting supernovae generate a population of superbubbles whose distributions in size and expansion velocity are also described by simple power laws, and from which a galaxy's porosity parameter is easily derived. A critical star-formation threshold can then be estimated, above which the escape of Lyman-continuum photons, hot gas, and nucleosynthetic products is predicted. A first comparison with a large sample of Hα observations of galaxies is broadly consistent with this prediction, and suggests that ionizing photons are likely to escape from starburst galaxies. The superbubble size distribution also offers a basis for a Simple Inhomogeneous Model for galactic chemical evolution, which is especially applicable to metal-poor systems and instantaneous metallicity distributions. This model offers an alternative interpretation of the Galactic halo metallicity distribution and emphasizes the relative importance of star-formation intensity, in addition to age, in a system's evolution. The fraction of zero-metallicity, Population III stars is easily predicted for any such model. We emphasize that all these phenomena can be modeled in a simple, analytic framework over an extreme range in scale, offering powerful tools for understanding the role of massive stars in the cosmos.

Type
Chapter
Information
Massive Stars
From Pop III and GRBs to the Milky Way
, pp. 74 - 92
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • Massive stars: Feedback effects in the local universe
    • By M. S. Oey, Department of Astronomy, 830 Dennison Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042, USA, C. J. Clarke, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
  • Edited by Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Eva Villaver, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
  • Book: Massive Stars
  • Online publication: 04 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511770593.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Massive stars: Feedback effects in the local universe
    • By M. S. Oey, Department of Astronomy, 830 Dennison Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042, USA, C. J. Clarke, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
  • Edited by Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Eva Villaver, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
  • Book: Massive Stars
  • Online publication: 04 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511770593.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Massive stars: Feedback effects in the local universe
    • By M. S. Oey, Department of Astronomy, 830 Dennison Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1042, USA, C. J. Clarke, Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0HA, UK
  • Edited by Mario Livio, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Eva Villaver, Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore
  • Book: Massive Stars
  • Online publication: 04 August 2010
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511770593.006
Available formats
×