The origin and impact of Wolf-Rayet-type mass loss

Classical Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars mark an important stage in the late evolution of massive stars. As hydrogen-poor massive stars, these objects have lost their outer layers, while still losing further mass through strong winds indicated by their prominent emission line spectra. Wolf-Rayet stars have been detected in a variety of different galaxies. Their strong winds are a major ingredient of stellar evolution and population synthesis models. Yet, a coherent theoretical picture of their strong mass-loss is only starting to emerge. In particular, the occurrence of WR stars as a function of metallicity (Z) is still far from being understood.

Recommended citation: Sander et al. (2022), The origin and impact of Wolf-Rayet-type mass loss, The Origin of Outflows in Evolved Stars
NASA ADS | DOI