New STFC-funded project on mass loss and Ionising flux from massive stars started in Armagh
Prof Jorick Vink from Armagh Observatory and BRIDGCE UK network member was awarded funding from STFC for the coming three years to study mass loss and ionising flux from massive stars. The Aim of this mass-loss & Evolution research project is to predict accurate ionising fluxes of massive stars. These involve very massive stars (VMS) on the main sequence, massive Wolf-Rayet stars, and less luminous stripped Helium stars, which have been suggested to be key contributors to cosmic re-ionization. During the project, Prof Vink's team will compute mass-loss rates, evolution, and nucleosynthesis, and will assess, which massive stars are the dominant ionising sources. Prof Raphael Hirschi from Keele will contribute to the project with stellar evolution models and Prof Alison Laird from York will contribute with nucleosynthesis calculations.