Mapping the core of the Tarantula Nebula with VLT-MUSE. II. The spectroscopic Hertzsprung-Russell diagram of OB stars in NGC 2070

Castro, N.; Crowther, P. A.; Evans, C. J.; Vink, J. S.; Puls, J.; Herrero, A.; Garcia, M.; Selman, F. J.; Roth, M. M.; Simón-Díaz, S.
Bibliographical reference

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Advertised on:
4
2021
Number of authors
10
IAC number of authors
2
Citations
10
Refereed citations
8
Description
We present the spectroscopic analysis of 333 OB-type stars extracted from VLT-MUSE observations of the central 30 × 30 pc of NGC 2070 in the Tarantula Nebula on the Large Magellanic Cloud, the majority of which are analysed for the first time. The distribution of stars in the spectroscopic Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (sHRD) shows 281 stars in the main sequence. We find two groups in the main sequence, with estimated ages of 2.1 ± 0.8 and 6.2 ± 2 Myr. A subgroup of 52 stars is apparently beyond the main sequence phase, which we consider to be due to emission-type objects and/or significant nebular contamination affecting the analysis. As in previous studies, stellar masses derived from the sHRD are systematically larger than those obtained from the conventional HRD, with the differences being largest for the most massive stars. Additionally, we do not find any trend between the estimated projected rotational velocity and evolution in the sHRD. The projected rotational velocity distribution presents a tail of fast rotators that resembles findings in the wider population of 30 Doradus. We use published spectral types to calibrate the He Iλ4921/He IIλ5411 equivalent-width ratio as a classification diagnostic for early-type main sequence stars when the classical blue-visible region is not observed. Our model-atmosphere analyses demonstrate that the resulting calibration is well correlated with effective temperature.

Table 2 is only available at the CDS via anonymous ftp to cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr (ftp://130.79.128.5) or via http://cdsarc.u-strasbg.fr/viz-bin/cat/J/A+A/648/A65

Based on observations made with ESO telescopes at the Paranal observatory under programme ID 60.A-9351(A).
Related projects
Projets' image
Physical properties and evolution of Massive Stars

This project aims at the searching, observation and analysis of massive stars in nearby galaxies to provide a solid empirical ground to understand their physical properties as a function of those key parameters that gobern their evolution (i.e. mass, spin, metallicity, mass loss, and binary interaction). Massive stars are central objects to

Sergio
Simón Díaz