Introduction

Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars represent the final phase in the evolution of very massive stars prior to core collapse, in which the H-rich envelope has been stripped away via either stellar winds or close binary evolution, revealing products of H-burning (WN sequence) or He-burning (WC sequence) at their surfaces, i.e., He, N or C, O (Crowther 2007).

WR stellar winds are significantly denser than O stars, as illustrated in Figure 1, so their visual spectra are dominated by broad emission lines, notably He II λ4686 (WN stars) and C III λ4647–51, CIII λ5696, C IV λ5801–12 (WC stars). The spectro-scopic signature of WR stars may be seen individually in Local Group galaxies (e.g., Massey & Johnson 1998), within knots in local star-forming galaxies (e.g., Hadfield & Crowther 2006) and in the average rest frame UV spectrum of Lyman Break galaxies (Shapley et al. 2003).

Less than a few hundred thousand years after the Big Bang, the temperature was high enough that cosmic gas consisted of protons, free electrons and light nuclei. Once the Universe cooled to about 3000 K, the electrons and protons were moving sufficiently slowly that they combined to form hydrogen atoms. With scattering of photons much reduced, they were able to move in straight lines indefinitely, and may be seen redshifted into the microwave part of the spectrum as the 2.7K CMB. So began the era of recombination, or so-called “dark ages” when the IGM became mostly neutral. Within the current cold Dark Matter model for the hierarchical formation of structure, mini-halos of mass ∼106M⊙ (Couchman & Rees 1986) provided the gravitational seeds for the first stars at z ≈ 20–30, ending the “dark ages” through re-ionization of the IGM. A comprehensive review of the astrophysical role of dark matter is provided by Jungman, Kamionkowski, & Griest (1996).

Galaxies formed as baryonic gas cooled in the centers of dark matter structures, from which galaxy mass built up via mergers of halos and proto-galaxies (White & Rees 1978; Davis et al. 1985). Since most present-day galaxies are relatively old, it follows that they formed at z ≥2. The timescale over which galaxies assembled remains unclear, particularly the bulges and disks which are the main components of present-day galaxies.

A detailed discussion of stellar atmospheres is beyond the scope of this book. Nevertheless, our means of studying the properties of hot massive stars relies upon our ability to properly interpret the stellar continuum and line information typically formed in the thin boundary layer between the unseen interior and effectively vacuum interstellar medium. An excellent monograph on the topic of stellar photospheres is provided by Gray (2005), whilst more advanced techniques are introduced by Mihalas (1978).

With respect to normal stars, our interpretation of hot, luminous stars is hindered by two effects. Firstly, the routine assumption of LTE breaks down for high-temperature stars, and particularly for supergiants, due to the intense radiation field, such that the solution of the statistical rate equations (non-LTE) is necessary. Secondly, the simplifying assumption of plane-parallel geometry is no longer valid for blue and red supergiants, so the scale heights of their atmospheres are no longer negligible with respect to their stellar radii. It is the combination of requiring non-LTE plus spherical geometry that has prevented the routine study of OB star atmospheres until recently.

LTE atmospheres

Effective temperatures of early-type stars, essential for subsequent determinations of radii and luminosities, are derived from a comparison between observed photometry and/or spectroscopy and models. Surface gravities also require comparison between observed line profiles and models.

LTE model atmospheres developed by Robert Kurucz during the 1970s and 1980s account very thoroughly for metal line blanketing and are widely employed for both early- and late-type stars.

Massive stars are born in interstellar clouds made up of molecular gas and dusty material. Most of these stars originate from GMCs with typically ∼105M⊙. Upon collapse, these lead to massive star clusters. Some massive stars are born separate from these massive concentrations of gas and dust in smaller clouds and end up in more compact star clusters. Truly isolated massive stars seem to be rare in our Galaxy. Indeed, de Wit et al. (2005) argue that only a few percent of massive stars are born away from clusters. All these massive stars are found highly concentrated towards the Galactic plane where current star formation is still proceeding, albeit at a relatively restrained rate at present.

Consider first an individual massive star. It is formed when gravitational instability overwhelms a cloudlet of gas and dust which then begins a process of collapse. The collapse brings more and more material to the central object in a process of heating and rapid accretion. This phase is very rapid and will only be observed at far-IR wavelengths as the central material aggregates, begins to heat up, and emits radiation or molecular emission at radio wavelengths. Very quickly sufficient material accumulates such that an individual object can be identified. As this material continues to heat from the continuous contraction and accretion of more gas and dust it takes on the characteristic of what is called a “hot core”, radiating also now at mid-IR wavelengths.

Several textbooks discuss the interstellar medium in depth, notably The Physics of the Interstellar Medium (Dyson & Williams 1997) and The Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Medium (Tielens 2005). This chapter focuses on aspects relevant to massive stars, namely the properties of interstellar dust, ionized nebulae surrounding individual O stars (giant HII regions are discussed later on), wind blown bubbles and ejecta nebulae around LBVs and W-R stars.

Diffuse gas in the ISM may be in a neutral or ionized form, of which 90% is in the form of hydrogen, either in an atomic, molecular, or ionized state. Cold (∼100 K), atomic hydrogen can be traced via the 21 cm (1420 MHz) hyperfine line, first predicted by van de Hulst (Bakker & van de Hulst 1945) and observed by Ewen & Purcell (1951). This provided the key means of mapping out the structure of the Milky Way and external galaxies. The Lyman series of neutral hydrogen can also be observed in the UV against a suitably hot background source.

Most of the cold (∼10 K) molecular ISM is in the form of H2. This molecule, however, does not emit at radio wavelengths. Since H2 is well correlated with carbon monoxide (CO), the CO emission at 1.3 and 2.6 mm is used as a proxy for H2.

Stellar winds are ubiquitous amongst massive stars, although the physical processes involved depend upon the location of the star within the H-R diagram. Mass-loss crucially affects the evolution and fate of a massive star (Chapter 5), while the momentum and energy expelled contribute to the dynamics and energetics of the ISM (Chapter 8). The interested reader is referred to the monograph by Lamers & Cassinelli (1999) on the topic of stellar winds, or Kudritzki & Puls (2000) for a more detailed discussion of mass-loss from OB and related stars.

The existence of winds in massive stars was first proposed by Beals (1929) to explain the emission line spectra of Wolf–Rayet stars. This gained observational support in the 1960s when the first rocket UV missions revealed the characteristic P Cygni signatures of massloss from CIV λ1550, SilV λ1400, and NV λ1240 in O stars (Morton 1967). A theoretical framework for mass-loss in hot stars was initially developed by Lucy & Solomon (1970) involving radiation pressure from lines, and refined by Castor, Abbott, & Klein (1975), thereafter known as CAK theory. The observational characteristics of stellar winds are velocity and density. The former can be directly observed, whilst the latter relies on a varying complexity of theoretical interpretation.

Radiation pressure

When a photon is absorbed or scattered by matter, it imparts its energy, hv, and momentum, hv/c, where h is Planck's constant and c is the velocity of light. Consequently, radiation is a very inefficient carrier of momentum.