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Increasing main-sequence stellar luminosity with stellar mass leads to the eventual dominance of radiation pressure in stellar-envelope hydrostatic balance. As the luminosity approaches the Eddington limit, additional instabilities (beyond conventional convection) can occur. These instabilities readily manifest in the outer envelopes of OB stars, where the opacity increase associated with iron yields density and gas-pressure inversions in 1D models. Additionally, recent photometric surveys (e.g., TESS) have detected excess broadband low-frequency variability in power spectra of OB star lightcurves, called stochastic low-frequency variability (SLFV). This motivates our novel 3D Athena++ radiation hydrodynamical (RHD) simulations of two 35 M ⊙ star envelopes (the outer ≈15% of the stellar radial extent), one on the zero-age main sequence and the other in the middle of the main sequence. Both models exhibit turbulent motion far above and below the conventional iron-opacity peak convection zone (FeCZ), obliterating any “quiet” part of the near-surface region and leading to velocities at the photosphere of 10–100 km s−1, directly agreeing with spectroscopic data. Surface turbulence also produces SLFV in model lightcurves with amplitudes and power-law slopes that are strikingly similar to those of observed stars. The characteristic frequencies associated with SLFV in our models are comparable to the thermal time in the FeCZ (≈3–7 day−1). These ab initio simulations are directly validated by observations and, though more models are needed, we remain optimistic that 3D RHD models of main-sequence O-star envelopes exhibit SLFV originating from the FeCZ.

The relationship between magnetic activity and Rossby number is one way through which stellar dynamos can be understood. Using measured rotation rates and X-ray to bolometric luminosity ratios of an ensemble of stars, we derive empirical convective turnover times based on recent observations and reevaluate the X-ray activity–Rossby number relationship. In doing so, we find a sharp rise in the convective turnover time for stars in the mass range of 0.35−0.4 M⊙, associated with the onset of a fully convective internal stellar structure. Using MESA stellar evolution models, we infer the location of dynamo action implied by the empirical convective turnover time. The empirical convective turnover time is found to be indicative of dynamo action deep within the convective envelope in stars with masses 0.1–1.2 M⊙, crossing the fully convective boundary. Our results corroborate past works suggesting that partially and fully convective stars follow the same activity–Rossby relation, possibly owing to similar dynamo mechanisms. Our stellar models also give insight into the dynamo mechanism. We find that empirically determined convective turnover times correlate with properties of the deep stellar interior. These findings are in agreement with global dynamo models that see a reservoir of magnetic flux accumulates deep in the convection zone before buoyantly rising to the surface.

The mixing of material in stellar envelopes critically determines surface elemental abundances. A well-established tension remains between theoretical models and observational data for stars near the main-sequence turn-off. Resolving this issue requires developing a more physically complete treatment of material mixing, likely arising from processes inadequately represented in standard stellar models. This paper discusses four mixing mechanisms, including convection, convective overshooting, radiative diffusivity, and atomic diffusion, with particular focus on their combined impact on the surface elemental abundances of stars in the open cluster NGC 2420 during stellar evolution. We find that changes in the surface elemental abundances depend on the initial mass of the star and its evolutionary stage. The addition of extra mixing (radiative diffusivity) can resolve the issue of pure hydrogen atmospheres that arises for stars with masses greater than 1.35 M⊙. Our best-fitting model (Con+Ov+Diff) with a moderate overshoot parameter fov ∼ 0.0174 reproduces the observed abundance dip in NGC 2420, confirming atomic diffusion as the key mechanism and supporting a cluster age of ∼2.5 Gyr.

Surface convection is important for the presence of magnetic activity at stars. So far, this convection is thought to be a result of heating from below, where convection cells rise and break up. New models reveal that surface convection is instead strongly driven by cooling from above. We compare two simulations of surface convection, one with a significant heating from below and one without. We obtain surface convection in both cases, and they show similar granulation patterns. The deep convection driven by heating from below is still evolving and asymptotically approaches a steady-state solution. We find that convection from below is not needed at all to form typical photospheric granulation. This indicates the possibility of a surface dynamo acting on stars without a convecting envelope. Even stars without a convecting envelope could therefore exhibit stronger magnetic and coronal activity than expected so far.

Massive stars (∼8–25 M ⊙) stripped of their hydrogen-rich envelopes via binary interaction are thought to be the main progenitors for merging neutron stars and stripped-envelope supernovae. We recently presented the discovery of the first set of such stripped stars in a companion paper. Here, we fit the spectra of 10 stars with new atmosphere models in order to constrain their stellar properties precisely. We find that the stellar properties align well with the theoretical expectations from binary evolution models for helium-core burning envelope-stripped stars. The fits confirm that the stars have high effective temperatures (T eff ∼ 50–100 kK), high surface gravities ( logg∼ 5), and hydrogen-poor/helium-rich surfaces (X H,surf ∼ 0–0.4) while showing for the first time a range of bolometric luminosities (103–105 L ⊙), small radii (∼0.5–1 R ⊙), and low Eddington factors (Γ e ∼ 0.006–0.4). Using these properties, we derive intermediate current masses (∼1–8 M ⊙), which suggest that their progenitors were massive stars (∼5–25 M ⊙) and that a subset will reach core-collapse, leaving behind neutron stars or black holes. Using the model fits, we also estimate the emission rates of ionizing photons for these stars, which agree well with previous model expectations. Further, by computing models for a range of mass-loss rates, we find that the stellar winds are weaker than predicted by any existing scheme ( Ṁwind≲10−9 M ⊙ yr−1). The properties of this first sample of intermediate-mass helium stars suggest they both contain progenitors of type Ib and IIb supernovae, and provide important benchmarks for binary evolution and population synthesis models.

The magnetic field of red giants is still poorly understood today. Close to the core, asteroseismology has revealed magnetic fields of several hundred thousand gauss, but close to the surface, spectropolarimetric observations of the red giant Pollux only showed an average field of the order of 1 G. Using the ASH code, we conduct a series of 3D nonlinear magnetohydrodynamical simulations aiming at modeling the dynamo process operating within the extended convective envelope of a star similar to the red giant Pollux. We find that the dynamo is efficient even for the slow rotation considered and that large-scale fields are generated and maintained. We further test the correlation between the scale of the convective motions and the surface magnetic field geometry by varying the Prandtl number in our simulations. We show in particular that the value and the geometry of the modeled surface field depend directly on the coupling scales between the magnetic and the velocity fields, with larger convective cells leading to a stronger large-scale magnetic field. We also verify that the dynamo and the geometry of the resulting field are robust against a change of the initial conditions. We then compare our simulations to the observed field and find average ∣B ℓ ∣ of about 7 G for the simulation with large convective cells, and down to 2 G for the smaller-scale simulation, very close to the observed value. Finally, we suggest the possibility of the reversal of the red giant’s magnetic field.

Eruptive mass loss in massive stars is known to occur, but the mechanism(s) are not yet well understood. One proposed physical explanation appeals to opacity-driven super-Eddington luminosities in stellar envelopes. Here, we present a 1D model for eruptive mass loss and implement this model in the MESA stellar evolution code. The model identifies regions in the star where the energy associated with a local super-Eddington luminosity exceeds the binding energy of the overlaying envelope. The material above such regions is ejected from the star. Stars with initial masses of 10−100 M ⊙ at solar and SMC metallicities are evolved through core helium burning, with and without this new eruptive mass-loss scheme. We find that eruptive mass loss of up to ∼10−2 M ⊙yr−1 can be driven by this mechanism, and occurs in a vertical band on the H-R diagram between 3.5≲log(Teff/K)≲4.0 . This predicted eruptive mass loss prevents stars of initial masses ≳20 M ⊙ from evolving to become red supergiants (RSGs), with the stars instead ending their lives as blue supergiants, and offers a possible explanation for the observed lack of RSGs in that mass regime.

We present panchromatic observations and modeling of supernova (SN) 2020tlf, the first normal Type II-P/L SN with confirmed precursor emission, as detected by the Young Supernova Experiment transient survey. Pre-SN activity was detected in riz-bands at −130 days and persisted at relatively constant flux until first light. Soon after discovery, “flash” spectroscopy of SN 2020tlf revealed narrow, symmetric emission lines that resulted from the photoionization of circumstellar material (CSM) shed in progenitor mass-loss episodes before explosion. Surprisingly, this novel display of pre-SN emission and associated mass loss occurred in a red supergiant (RSG) progenitor with zero-age main-sequence mass of only 10–12 M ⊙, as inferred from nebular spectra. Modeling of the light curve and multi-epoch spectra with the non-LTE radiative-transfer code CMFGEN and radiation-hydrodynamical code HERACLES suggests a dense CSM limited to r ≈ 1015 cm, and mass-loss rate of 10−2 M ⊙ yr−1. The luminous light-curve plateau and persistent blue excess indicates an extended progenitor, compatible with an RSG model with R ⋆ = 1100 R ⊙. Limits on the shock-powered X-ray and radio luminosity are consistent with model conclusions and suggest a CSM density of ρ < 2 × 10−16 g cm−3 for distances from the progenitor star of r ≈ 5 × 1015 cm, as well as a mass-loss rate of Ṁ<1.3×10−5M☉yr−1 at larger distances. A promising power source for the observed precursor emission is the ejection of stellar material following energy disposition into the stellar envelope as a result of gravity waves emitted during either neon/oxygen burning or a nuclear flash from silicon combustion.

Common envelope evolution (CEE) physics plays a fundamental role in the formation of binary systems, such as merging stellar gravitational wave sources, pulsar binaries, and Type Ia supernovae. A precisely constrained CEE has become more important in the age of large surveys and gravitational wave detectors. We use an adiabatic mass-loss model to explore how the total energy of the donor changes as a function of the remnant mass. This provides a more self-consistent way to calculate the binding energy of the donor. For comparison, we also calculate the binding energy through integrating the total energy from the core to the surface. The outcome of CEE is constrained by total energy conservation at the point at which both components’ radii shrink back within their Roche lobes. We apply our results to 142 hot subdwarf binaries. For shorter orbital period hot subdwarf B stars (sdBs), the binding energy is highly consistent. For longer orbital period sdBs in our samples, the binding energy can differ by up to a factor of 2. The common envelope (CE) efficiency parameter β CE becomes smaller than α CE for the final orbital period log10Porb/days>−0.5 . We also find the mass ratios log10q and CE efficiency parameters log10αCE and log10βCE linearly correlate in sdBs, similarly to the findings of De Marco et al. for post-AGB binaries.

There is now a large sample of stars observed by the Kepler satellite with measured rotation periods and photometric activity index Sph. We use this data, in conjunction with stellar interiors models, to explore the interplay of magnetism, rotation, and convection. Stellar activity proxies other than Sph are correlated with the Rossby number, Ro, or ratio of rotation period to convective overturn timescale. We compute the latter using the Yale Rotating Evolution Code stellar models. We observe different Sph–Ro relationships for different stellar spectral types. Though the overall trend of decreasing magnetic activity versus Rossby number is recovered, we find a localized dip in Sph around Ro/Ro⊙ ∼ 0.3 for the G and K dwarfs. F dwarfs show little to no dependence of Sph on Rossby number due to their shallow convective zone, further accentuated as Teff increases. The dip in activity for the G and K dwarfs corresponds to the intermediate rotation period gap, suggesting that the dip in Sph could be associated with the redistribution of angular momentum between the core and convective envelope inside stars. For G-type stars, we observe enhanced magnetic activity above the solar Rossby number. Compared to other Sun-like stars with similar effective temperature and metallicity, we find that the Sun’s current level of magnetic activity is comparable to its peers and lies near the transition to increasing magnetic activity at high Rossby number. We confirm that metal-rich stars have a systematically larger Sph level than metal-poor stars, which is likely a consequence of their deeper convective zones.