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Sunday, January 6, 2019

Cosmology (updated)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hubble eXtreme Deep Field (XDF) was completed in September 2012 and shows the farthest galaxies ever photographed. Except for the few stars in the foreground (which are bright and easily recognizable because only they have diffraction spikes), every speck of light in the photo is an individual galaxy, some of them as old as 13.2 billion years; the observable universe is estimated to contain more than 2 trillion galaxies.
 
Cosmology (from the Greek κόσμος, kosmos "world" and -λογία, -logia "study of") is a branch of astronomy concerned with the studies of the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to today and on into the future. It is the scientific study of the origin, evolution, and eventual fate of the universe. Physical cosmology is the scientific study of the universe's origin, its large-scale structures and dynamics, and its ultimate fate, as well as the laws of science that govern these areas.

The term cosmology was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's Glossographia, and in 1731 taken up in Latin by German philosopher Christian Wolff, in Cosmologia Generalis.

Religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation myths and eschatology. 

Physical cosmology is studied by scientists, such as astronomers and physicists, as well as philosophers, such as metaphysicians, philosophers of physics, and philosophers of space and time. Because of this shared scope with philosophy, theories in physical cosmology may include both scientific and non-scientific propositions, and may depend upon assumptions that cannot be tested. Cosmology differs from astronomy in that the former is concerned with the Universe as a whole while the latter deals with individual celestial objects. Modern physical cosmology is dominated by the Big Bang theory, which attempts to bring together observational astronomy and particle physics; more specifically, a standard parameterization of the Big Bang with dark matter and dark energy, known as the Lambda-CDM model. 

Theoretical astrophysicist David N. Spergel has described cosmology as a "historical science" because "when we look out in space, we look back in time" due to the finite nature of the speed of light.

Disciplines

Physics and astrophysics have played a central role in shaping the understanding of the universe through scientific observation and experiment. Physical cosmology was shaped through both mathematics and observation in an analysis of the whole universe. The universe is generally understood to have begun with the Big Bang, followed almost instantaneously by cosmic inflation; an expansion of space from which the universe is thought to have emerged 13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago. Cosmogony studies the origin of the Universe, and cosmography maps the features of the Universe. 

In Diderot's Encyclopédie, cosmology is broken down into uranology (the science of the heavens), aerology (the science of the air), geology (the science of the continents), and hydrology (the science of waters).

Metaphysical cosmology has also been described as the placing of humans in the universe in relationship to all other entities. This is exemplified by Marcus Aurelius's observation that a man's place in that relationship: "He who does not know what the world is does not know where he is, and he who does not know for what purpose the world exists, does not know who he is, nor what the world is."[9]

Physical cosmology

Physical cosmology is the branch of physics and astrophysics that deals with the study of the physical origins and evolution of the Universe. It also includes the study of the nature of the Universe on a large scale. In its earliest form, it was what is now known as "celestial mechanics", the study of the heavens. Greek philosophers Aristarchus of Samos, Aristotle, and Ptolemy proposed different cosmological theories. The geocentric Ptolemaic system was the prevailing theory until the 16th century when Nicolaus Copernicus, and subsequently Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei, proposed a heliocentric system. This is one of the most famous examples of epistemological rupture in physical cosmology. 

Evidence of gravitational waves in the infant universe may have been uncovered by the microscopic examination of the focal plane of the BICEP2 radio telescope.
 
Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, published in 1687, was the first description of the law of universal gravitation. It provided a physical mechanism for Kepler's laws and also allowed the anomalies in previous systems, caused by gravitational interaction between the planets, to be resolved. A fundamental difference between Newton's cosmology and those preceding it was the Copernican principle—that the bodies on earth obey the same physical laws as all the celestial bodies. This was a crucial philosophical advance in physical cosmology. 

Modern scientific cosmology is usually considered to have begun in 1917 with Albert Einstein's publication of his final modification of general relativity in the paper "Cosmological Considerations of the General Theory of Relativity" (although this paper was not widely available outside of Germany until the end of World War I). General relativity prompted cosmogonists such as Willem de Sitter, Karl Schwarzschild, and Arthur Eddington to explore its astronomical ramifications, which enhanced the ability of astronomers to study very distant objects. Physicists began changing the assumption that the Universe was static and unchanging. In 1922 Alexander Friedmann introduced the idea of an expanding universe that contained moving matter. Around the same time (1917 to 1922) the Great Debate took place, with early cosmologists such as Heber Curtis and Ernst Öpik determining that some nebulae seen in telescopes were separate galaxies far distant from our own.

In parallel to this dynamic approach to cosmology, one long-standing debate about the structure of the cosmos was coming to a climax. Mount Wilson astronomer Harlow Shapley championed the model of a cosmos made up of the Milky Way star system only; while Heber D. Curtis argued for the idea that spiral nebulae were star systems in their own right as island universes. This difference of ideas came to a climax with the organization of the Great Debate on 26 April 1920 at the meeting of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. The debate was resolved when Edwin Hubble detected Cepheid Variables in the Andromeda galaxy in 1923 and 1924. Their distance established spiral nebulae well beyond the edge of the Milky Way. 

Subsequent modelling of the universe explored the possibility that the cosmological constant, introduced by Einstein in his 1917 paper, may result in an expanding universe, depending on its value. Thus the Big Bang model was proposed by the Belgian priest Georges Lemaître in 1927 which was subsequently corroborated by Edwin Hubble's discovery of the red shift in 1929 and later by the discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson in 1964. These findings were a first step to rule out some of many alternative cosmologies. 

Since around 1990, several dramatic advances in observational cosmology have transformed cosmology from a largely speculative science into a predictive science with precise agreement between theory and observation. These advances include observations of the microwave background from the COBE, WMAP and Planck satellites, large new galaxy redshift surveys including 2dfGRS and SDSS, and observations of distant supernovae and gravitational lensing. These observations matched the predictions of the cosmic inflation theory, a modified Big Bang theory, and the specific version known as the Lambda-CDM model. This has led many to refer to modern times as the "golden age of cosmology".

On 17 March 2014, astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics announced the detection of gravitational waves, providing strong evidence for inflation and the Big Bang. However, on 19 June 2014, lowered confidence in confirming the cosmic inflation findings was reported.

On 1 December 2014, at the Planck 2014 meeting in Ferrara, Italy, astronomers reported that the universe is 13.8 billion years old and is composed of 4.9% atomic matter, 26.6% dark matter and 68.5% dark energy.

Religious or mythological cosmology

Religious or mythological cosmology is a body of beliefs based on mythological, religious, and esoteric literature and traditions of creation and eschatology.

Philosophical cosmology

Cosmology deals with the world as the totality of space, time and all phenomena. Historically, it has had quite a broad scope, and in many cases was founded in religion. In modern use metaphysical cosmology addresses questions about the Universe which are beyond the scope of science. It is distinguished from religious cosmology in that it approaches these questions using philosophical methods like dialectics. Modern metaphysical cosmology tries to address questions such as:
  • What is the origin of the Universe? What is its first cause? Is its existence necessary? (see monism, pantheism, emanationism and creationism)
  • What are the ultimate material components of the Universe? (see mechanism, dynamism, hylomorphism, atomism)
  • What is the ultimate reason for the existence of the Universe? Does the cosmos have a purpose? (see teleology)
  • Does the existence of consciousness have a purpose? How do we know what we know about the totality of the cosmos? Does cosmological reasoning reveal metaphysical truths? (see epistemology)

Historical cosmologies

Name Author and date Classification Remarks
Hindu cosmology Rigveda (c. 1700–1100 BC) Cyclical or oscillating, Infinite in time One cycle of existence is around 311 trillion years and the life of one universe around 8 billion years. This Universal cycle is preceded by an infinite number of universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes. Includes an infinite number of universes at one given time.
Jain cosmology Jain Agamas (written around 500 AD as per the teachings of Mahavira 599–527 BC) Cyclical or oscillating, eternal and finite Jain cosmology considers the loka, or universe, as an uncreated entity, existing since infinity, the shape of the universe as similar to a man standing with legs apart and arm resting on his waist. This Universe, according to Jainism, is broad at the top, narrow at the middle and once again becomes broad at the bottom.
Babylonian cosmology Babylonian literature (c. 3000 BC) Flat earth floating in infinite "waters of chaos" The Earth and the Heavens form a unit within infinite "waters of chaos"; the earth is flat and circular, and a solid dome (the "firmament") keeps out the outer "chaos"-ocean.
Eleatic cosmology Parmenides (c. 515 BC) Finite and spherical in extent The Universe is unchanging, uniform, perfect, necessary, timeless, and neither generated nor perishable. Void is impossible. Plurality and change are products of epistemic ignorance derived from sense experience. Temporal and spatial limits are arbitrary and relative to the Parmenidean whole.
Biblical cosmology Genesis creation narrative Earth floating in infinite "waters of chaos" The Earth and the Heavens form a unit within infinite "waters of chaos"; the "firmament" keeps out the outer "chaos"-ocean.
Atomist universe Anaxagoras (500–428 BC) & later Epicurus Infinite in extent The universe contains only two things: an infinite number of tiny seeds (atoms) and the void of infinite extent. All atoms are made of the same substance, but differ in size and shape. Objects are formed from atom aggregations and decay back into atoms. Incorporates Leucippus' principle of causality: "nothing happens at random; everything happens out of reason and necessity". The universe was not ruled by gods.
Pythagorean universe Philolaus (d. 390 BC) Existence of a "Central Fire" at the center of the Universe. At the center of the Universe is a central fire, around which the Earth, Sun, Moon and planets revolve uniformly. The Sun revolves around the central fire once a year, the stars are immobile. The earth in its motion maintains the same hidden face towards the central fire, hence it is never seen. First known non-geocentric model of the Universe.
De Mundo Pseudo-Aristotle (d. 250 BC or between 350 and 200 BC) The Universe then is a system made up of heaven and earth and the elements which are contained in them. There are "five elements, situated in spheres in five regions, the less being in each case surrounded by the greater – namely, earth surrounded by water, water by air, air by fire, and fire by ether – make up the whole Universe."
Stoic universe Stoics (300 BC – 200 AD) Island universe The cosmos is finite and surrounded by an infinite void. It is in a state of flux, and pulsates in size and undergoes periodic upheavals and conflagrations.
Aristotelian universe Aristotle (384–322 BC) Geocentric, static, steady state, finite extent, infinite time Spherical earth is surrounded by concentric celestial spheres. Universe exists unchanged throughout eternity. Contains a fifth element, called aether, that was added to the four classical elements.
Aristarchean universe Aristarchus (circa 280 BC) Heliocentric Earth rotates daily on its axis and revolves annually about the sun in a circular orbit. Sphere of fixed stars is centered about the sun.
Ptolemaic model Ptolemy (2nd century AD) Geocentric (based on Aristotelian universe) Universe orbits around a stationary Earth. Planets move in circular epicycles, each having a center that moved in a larger circular orbit (called an eccentric or a deferent) around a center-point near Earth. The use of equants added another level of complexity and allowed astronomers to predict the positions of the planets. The most successful universe model of all time, using the criterion of longevity. Almagest (the Great System).
Aryabhatan model Aryabhata (499) Geocentric or Heliocentric The Earth rotates and the planets move in elliptical orbits around either the Earth or Sun; uncertain whether the model is geocentric or heliocentric due to planetary orbits given with respect to both the Earth and Sun.
Medieval universe Medieval philosophers (500–1200) Finite in time A universe that is finite in time and has a beginning is proposed by the Christian philosopher John Philoponus, who argues against the ancient Greek notion of an infinite past. Logical arguments supporting a finite universe are developed by the early Muslim philosopher Alkindus, the Jewish philosopher Saadia Gaon, and the Muslim theologian Algazel.
Multiversal cosmology Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (1149–1209) Multiverse, multiple worlds and universes There exists an infinite outer space beyond the known world, and God has the power to fill the vacuum with an infinite number of universes.
Maragha models Maragha school (1259–1528) Geocentric Various modifications to Ptolemaic model and Aristotelian universe, including rejection of equant and eccentrics at Maragheh observatory, and introduction of Tusi-couple by Al-Tusi. Alternative models later proposed, including the first accurate lunar model by Ibn al-Shatir, a model rejecting stationary Earth in favour of Earth's rotation by Ali Kuşçu, and planetary model incorporating "circular inertia" by Al-Birjandi.
Nilakanthan model Nilakantha Somayaji (1444–1544) Geocentric and heliocentric A universe in which the planets orbit the Sun, which orbits the Earth; similar to the later Tychonic system
Copernican universe Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) Heliocentric with circular planetary orbits First described in De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.
Tychonic system Tycho Brahe (1546–1601) Geocentric and Heliocentric A universe in which the planets orbit the Sun and the Sun orbits the Earth, similar to the earlier Nilakanthan model.
Bruno's cosmology Giordano Bruno (1548–1600) Infinite extent, infinite time, homogeneous, isotropic, non-hierarchical Rejects the idea of a hierarchical universe. Earth and Sun have no special properties in comparison with the other heavenly bodies. The void between the stars is filled with aether, and matter is composed of the same four elements (water, earth, fire, and air), and is atomistic, animistic and intelligent.
Keplerian Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) Heliocentric with elliptical planetary orbits Kepler's discoveries, marrying mathematics and physics, provided the foundation for our present conception of the Solar system, but distant stars were still seen as objects in a thin, fixed celestial sphere.
Static Newtonian Isaac Newton (1642–1727) Static (evolving), steady state, infinite Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle. Matter on the large scale is uniformly distributed. Gravitationally balanced but unstable.
Cartesian Vortex universe René Descartes, 17th century Static (evolving), steady state, infinite System of huge swirling whirlpools of aethereal or fine matter produces what we would call gravitational effects. But his vacuum was not empty; all space was filled with matter.
Hierarchical universe Immanuel Kant, Johann Lambert, 18th century Static (evolving), steady state, infinite Matter is clustered on ever larger scales of hierarchy. Matter is endlessly recycled.
Einstein Universe with a cosmological constant Albert Einstein, 1917 Static (nominally). Bounded (finite) "Matter without motion". Contains uniformly distributed matter. Uniformly curved spherical space; based on Riemann's hypersphere. Curvature is set equal to Λ. In effect Λ is equivalent to a repulsive force which counteracts gravity. Unstable.
De Sitter universe Willem de Sitter, 1917 Expanding flat space. Steady state. Λ > 0
"Motion without matter." Only apparently static. Based on Einstein's general relativity. Space expands with constant acceleration. Scale factor increases exponentially (constant inflation).
MacMillan universe William Duncan MacMillan 1920s Static and steady state New matter is created from radiation; starlight perpetually recycled into new matter particles.
Friedmann universe, spherical space Alexander Friedmann 1922 Spherical expanding space. k = +1 ; no Λ
Positive curvature. Curvature constant k = +1 Expands then recollapses. Spatially closed (finite).
Friedmann universe, hyperbolic space Alexander Friedmann, 1924 Hyperbolic expanding space. k = −1 ; no Λ
Negative curvature. Said to be infinite (but ambiguous). Unbounded. Expands forever.
Dirac large numbers hypothesis Paul Dirac 1930s Expanding Demands a large variation in G, which decreases with time. Gravity weakens as universe evolves.
Friedmann zero-curvature Einstein and De Sitter, 1932 Expanding flat space k = 0 ; Λ = 0 Critical density
Curvature constant k = 0. Said to be infinite (but ambiguous). "Unbounded cosmos of limited extent". Expands forever. "Simplest" of all known universes. Named after but not considered by Friedmann. Has a deceleration term q = 1/2, which means that its expansion rate slows down.
The original Big Bang (Friedmann-Lemaître) Georges Lemaître 1927–29 Expansion Λ > 0 ; Λ > |Gravity|
Λ is positive and has a magnitude greater than gravity. Universe has initial high-density state ("primeval atom"). Followed by a two-stage expansion. Λ is used to destabilize the universe. (Lemaître is considered the father of the big bang model.)
Oscillating universe (Friedmann-Einstein) Favored by Friedmann, 1920s Expanding and contracting in cycles Time is endless and beginningless; thus avoids the beginning-of-time paradox. Perpetual cycles of big bang followed by big crunch. (Einstein's first choice after he rejected his 1917 model.)
Eddington universe Arthur Eddington 1930 First static then expands Static Einstein 1917 universe with its instability disturbed into expansion mode; with relentless matter dilution becomes a De Sitter universe. Λ dominates gravity.
Milne universe of kinematic relativity Edward Milne, 1933, 1935; William H. McCrea, 1930s
Kinematic expansion without space expansion Rejects general relativity and the expanding space paradigm. Gravity not included as initial assumption. Obeys cosmological principle and special relativity; consists of a finite spherical cloud of particles (or galaxies) that expands within an infinite and otherwise empty flat space. It has a center and a cosmic edge (surface of the particle cloud) that expands at light speed. Explanation of gravity was elaborate and unconvincing.
Friedmann–Lemaître–Robertson–Walker class of models Howard Robertson, Arthur Walker, 1935 Uniformly expanding Class of universes that are homogeneous and isotropic. Spacetime separates into uniformly curved space and cosmic time common to all co-moving observers. The formulation system is now known as the FLRW or Robertson–Walker metrics of cosmic time and curved space.
Steady-state Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, 1948 Expanding, steady state, infinite Matter creation rate maintains constant density. Continuous creation out of nothing from nowhere. Exponential expansion. Deceleration term q = −1.
Steady-state Fred Hoyle 1948 Expanding, steady state; but unstable Matter creation rate maintains constant density. But since matter creation rate must be exactly balanced with the space expansion rate the system is unstable.
Ambiplasma Hannes Alfvén 1965 Oskar Klein Cellular universe, expanding by means of matter–antimatter annihilation Based on the concept of plasma cosmology. The universe is viewed as "meta-galaxies" divided by double layers and thus a bubble-like nature. Other universes are formed from other bubbles. Ongoing cosmic matter-antimatter annihilations keep the bubbles separated and moving apart preventing them from interacting.
Brans–Dicke theory Carl H. Brans, Robert H. Dicke Expanding Based on Mach's principle. G varies with time as universe expands. "But nobody is quite sure what Mach's principle actually means."
Cosmic inflation Alan Guth 1980 Big Bang modified to solve horizon and flatness problems Based on the concept of hot inflation. The universe is viewed as a multiple quantum flux – hence its bubble-like nature. Other universes are formed from other bubbles. Ongoing cosmic expansion kept the bubbles separated and moving apart.
Eternal inflation (a multiple universe model) Andreï Linde, 1983 Big Bang with cosmic inflation Multiverse based on the concept of cold inflation, in which inflationary events occur at random each with independent initial conditions; some expand into bubble universes supposedly like our entire cosmos. Bubbles nucleate in a spacetime foam.
Cyclic model Paul Steinhardt; Neil Turok 2002 Expanding and contracting in cycles; M-theory. Two parallel orbifold planes or M-branes collide periodically in a higher-dimensional space. With quintessence or dark energy.
Cyclic model Lauris Baum; Paul Frampton 2007 Solution of Tolman's entropy problem Phantom dark energy fragments universe into large number of disconnected patches. Our patch contracts containing only dark energy with zero entropy.
Discovery of Gravitational Waves (LIGO Model) Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory 2016 Albert Einstein Model Continuation, Gravitational Wave Theory Proven Following the BICep2 Model failing to prove their findings concerning gravitational waves back in 2014, LIGO, in 2016, were able to detect and prove that gravitational waves are indeed emitted around black holes when two black holes pull together and create one larger black hole.
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Red supergiant star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Red supergiants are stars with a supergiant luminosity class (Yerkes class I) of spectral type K or M. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, although they are not the most massive or luminous. Betelgeuse and Antares are the brightest and best known red supergiants (RSGs), indeed the only first magnitude red supergiant stars.

Classification

Stars are classified as supergiants on the basis of their spectral luminosity class. This system uses certain diagnostic spectral lines to estimate the surface gravity of a star, hence determining its size relative to its mass. Larger stars are more luminous at a given temperature and can now be grouped into bands of differing luminosity.

The luminosity differences between stars is most apparent at low temperatures, where giant stars are much brighter than main-sequence stars. Supergiant have the lowest surface gravities and hence are the largest and brightest at a particular temperature. 

The Yerkes or Morgan-Keenan (MK) classification system is almost universal. It groups stars into five main luminosity groups designated by roman numerals:
Specific to supergiants, the luminosity class is further divided into normal supergiants of class Ib and bright supergiants of class Ia. The intermediate class Iab is also used. Exceptionally bright, low surface gravity, stars with strong indications of mass loss may be designated by luminosity class 0 (zero) although this is rarely seen. More often the designation Ia-0 will be used, and more commonly still Ia+. These hypergiant spectral classifications are very rarely applied to red supergiants, although the term hypergiant is sometimes used for the most extended and unstable red supergiants.

The "red" part of "red supergiant" refers to the cool temperature. Red supergiants are the coolest supergiants, M-type and at least some K-type stars although there is no precise cutoff. K-type supergiants are uncommon compared to M-type, because they are a short-lived transition stage and somewhat unstable. The K-type stars, especially early or hotter K types, are sometimes described as orange supergiants (e.g. Zeta Cephei), or even as yellow (e.g. yellow hypergiant HR 5171A).

Properties

Red supergiants are cool and large. They have spectral types of K and M, hence temperatures below 4,100 K. They are typically several hundred to over a thousand times the radius of the Sun, although size is not the primary factor in a star being designated as a supergiant. A bright cool giant star can easily be larger than a hotter supergiant. For example, Alpha Herculis is classified as a giant star with a radius of between 264 to 303 R☉ while Epsilon Pegasi is a K2 supergiant of only 185 R☉. 

Although red supergiants are much cooler than the Sun, they are so much larger that they are highly luminous, typically tens or hundreds of thousands L☉. There is an upper limit to the luminosity of a red supergiant at around half a million L☉. Stars above this luminosity would be too unstable and simply don't form. 

Red supergiants have masses between about 10 M☉ and 40 M☉. Main-sequence stars more massive than about 40 M☉ do not expand and cool to become red supergiants. Red supergiants at the upper end of the possible mass and luminosity range are the largest known. Their low surface gravities and high luminosities cause extreme mass loss, millions of times higher than the Sun, producing observable nebulae surrounding the star. By the end of their lives red supergiants may have lost a substantial fraction of their initial mass. The more massive supergiants lose mass much more rapidly and all red supergiants appear to reach a similar mass of the order of 10 M☉ by the time their cores collapse. The exact value depends on the initial chemical makeup of the star and its rotation rate.

Most red supergiants show some degree of visual variability, but only rarely with a well-defined period or amplitude. Therefore, they are usually classified as irregular or semiregular variables. They even have their own sub-classes, SRC and LC for slow semi-regular and slow irregular supergiant variables respectively. Variations are typically slow and of small amplitude, but amplitudes up to four magnitudes are known.

Statistical analysis of many known variable red supergiants shows a number of likely causes for variation: just a few stars show large amplitudes and strong noise indicating variability at many frequencies, thought to indicate powerful stellar winds that occur towards the end of the life of a red supergiant; more common are simultaneous radial mode variations over a few hundred days and probably non-radial mode variations over a few thousand days; only a few stars appear to be truly irregular, with small amplitudes, likely due to photospheric granulation. Red supergiant photospheres contain a relatively small number of very large convection cells compared to stars like the Sun. This causes variations in surface brightness that can lead to visible brightness variations as the star rotates.

The spectra of red supergiants are similar to other cool stars, dominated by a forest of absorption lines of metals and molecular bands. Some of these features are used to determine the luminosity class, for example certain near-infrared cyanogen band strengths and the Ca II triplet.

Maser emission is common from the circumstellar material around red supergiants. Most commonly this arises from H2O and SiO, but hydroxyl (OH) emission also occurs from narrow regions. In addition to high resolution mapping of the circumstellar material around red supergiants, VLBI or VLBA observations of masers can be used to derive accurate parallaxes and distances to their sources. Currently this has been applied mainly to individual objects, but it may become useful for analysis of galactic structure and discovery of otherwise obscured red supergiant stars.

Surface abundances of red supergiants are dominated by hydrogen even though hydrogen at the core has been completely consumed. In the latest stages of mass loss before a star explodes, surface helium may become enriched to levels comparable with hydrogen. In theoretical extreme mass loss models, sufficient hydrogen may be lost that helium becomes the most abundant element at the surface. When pre-red supergiant stars leave the main sequence, oxygen is more abundant than carbon at the surface, and nitrogen is less abundant than either, reflecting abundances from the formation of the star. Carbon and oxygen are quickly depleted and nitrogen enhanced as a result of the dredge-up of CNO-processed material from the fusion layers.

Red supergiants are observed to rotate slowly or very slowly. Models indicate that even rapidly rotating main-sequence stars should be braked by their mass loss so that red supergiants hardly rotate at all. Those red supergiants such as Betelgeuse that do have modest rates of rotation may have acquired it after reaching the red supergiant stage, perhaps though binary interaction. The cores of red supergiants are still rotating and the differential rotation rate can be very large.

Definition

Betelgeuse pulsating and showing spectral line profile changes (HST UV images)
 
Supergiant luminosity classes are easy to determine and apply to large numbers of stars, but they group a number of very different types of star into a single category. An evolutionary definition restricts the term supergiant to those massive stars which start core helium fusion without developing a degenerate helium core and without undergoing a helium flash. They will universally go on to burn heavier elements and undergo core collapse resulting in a supernova.

Less massive stars may develop a supergiant spectral luminosity class at relatively low luminosity, around 1,000 L☉, when they are on the asymptotic giant branch (AGB) undergoing helium shell burning. Researchers now prefer to categorise these as AGB stars distinct from supergiants because they are less massive, have different chemical compositions at the surface, undergo different types of pulsation and variability, and will evolve in a different way, usually producing a planetary nebula and white dwarf. Most AGB stars will not become supernovae although there is interest in a class of super-AGB stars, those almost massive enough to undergo full carbon fusion, which may produce peculiar supernovae although without ever developing an iron core. One notable group of low mass high luminosity stars are the RV Tauri variables, AGB or post-AGB stars lying on the instability strip and showing distinctive semi-regular variations.

Evolution

A red supergiant ends its life as a type II supernova (bottom left) in a spiral arm of M74
 
Red supergiants develop from main-sequence stars with masses between about 10 M☉ and 30 M☉. Higher-mass stars never cool sufficiently to become red supergiants. Lower-mass stars develop a degenerate helium core during a red giant phase, undergo a helium flash before fusing helium on the horizontal branch, evolve along the AGB while burning helium in a shell around a degenerate carbon-oxygen core, then rapidly lose their outer layers to become a white dwarf with a planetary nebula. AGB stars may develop spectra with a supergiant luminosity class as they expand to extreme dimensions relative to their small mass, and they may reach luminosities tens of thousands times the sun's. Intermediate "super-AGB" stars, around 9 M☉, can undergo carbon fusion and may produce an electron capture supernova through the collapse of an oxygen-neon core.

Main-sequence stars, burning hydrogen in their cores, with masses between 10 and 30 M☉ will have temperatures between about 25,000K and 32,000K and spectral types of early B, possibly very late O. They are already very luminous stars of 10,000-100,000 L☉ due to rapid CNO cycle fusion of hydrogen and they have fully convective cores. In contrast to the Sun, the outer layers of these hot main-sequence stars are not convective.

These pre-red supergiant main-sequence stars exhaust the hydrogen in their cores after 5-20 million years. They then start to burn a shell of hydrogen around the now-predominantly helium core, and this causes them to expand and cool into supergiants. Their luminosity increases by a factor of about three. The surface abundance of helium is now up to 40% but there is little enrichment of heavier elements.

The supergiants continue to cool and most will rapidly pass through the Cepheid instability strip, although the most massive will spend a brief period as yellow hypergiants. They will reach late K or M class and become a red supergiant. Helium fusion in the core begins smoothly either while the star is expanding or once it is already a red supergiant, but this produces little immediate change at the surface. Red supergiants develop deep convection zones reaching from the surface over halfway to the core and these cause strong enrichment of nitrogen at the surface, with some enrichment of heavier elements.

Some red supergiants undergo blue loops where they temporarily increase in temperature before returning to the red supergiant state. This depends on the mass, rate of rotation, and chemical makeup of the star. While many red supergiants will not experience a blue loop, some can have several. Temperatures can reach 10,000K at the peak of the blue loop. The exact reasons for blue loops vary in different stars, but they are always related to the helium core increasing as a proportion of the mass of the star and forcing higher mass loss rates from the outer layers.

All red supergiants will exhaust the helium in their cores within one or two million years and then start to burn carbon. This continues with fusion of heavier elements until an iron core builds up, which then inevitably collapses to produce a supernova. The time from the onset of carbon fusion until core collapse is no more than a few thousand years. In most cases, core collapse occurs while the star is still a red supergiant, the large remaining hydrogen-rich atmosphere is ejected, and this produces a type II supernova spectrum. The opacity of this ejected hydrogen decreases as it cools and this causes an extended delay to the drop in brightness after the initial supernova peak, the characteristic of a type II-P supernova.

The most luminous red supergiants, at near solar metallicity, are expected to lose most of their outer layers before their cores collapse, hence they evolve back to yellow hypergiants and luminous blue variables. Such stars can explode as type II-L supernovae, still with hydrogen in their spectra but not with sufficient hydrogen to cause an extended brightness plateau in their light curves. Stars with even less hydrogen remaining may produce the uncommon type IIb supernova, where there is so little hydrogen remaining that the hydrogen lines in the initial type II spectrum fade to the appearance of a type Ib supernova.

The observed progenitors of type II-P supernovae all have temperatures between 3,500K and 4,400K and luminosities between 20,000 L☉ and 200,000 L☉. This matches the expected parameters of lower mass red supergiants. A small number of progenitors of type II-L and type IIb supernovae have been observed, all having luminosities around 100,000 L☉ and somewhat higher temperatures up to 6,000K. These are a good match for slightly higher mass red supergiants with high mass loss rates. There are no known supernova progenitors corresponding to the most luminous red supergiants, and it is expected that these evolve to Wolf Rayet stars before exploding.

Clusters

RSGC1, the first of several massive clusters found to contain multiple red supergiants.
 
Red supergiants are necessarily no more than about 25 million years old and such massive stars are expected to form only in relatively large clusters of stars, so they are expected to be found mostly near prominent clusters. However they are fairly short-lived compared to other phases in the life of a star and only form from relatively uncommon massive stars, so there will generally only be small numbers of red supergiants in each cluster at any one time. For example, in the substantial Double Clusters in Perseus there is just a single red supergiant, S Persei, while the massive Hodge 301 cluster in the Tarantula Nebula contains three. Until the 21st century the largest number of red supergiants known in a single cluster was five in NGC 7419. Most red supergiants are found singly, for example Betelgeuse in the Orion OB1 Association and Antares in the Scorpius-Centaurus Association. 

Since 2006, a series of massive clusters have been identified near the base of the Crux-Scutum Arm of the galaxy, each containing multiple red supergiants. RSGC1 contains at least 12 red supergiants, RSGC2 (also known as Stephenson 2) contains at least 26, RSGC3 contains at least 8, and RSGC4 (also known as Alicante 8) contains at least 8. A total of 80 confirmed red supergiants have been identified within a small area of the sky in the direction of these clusters. These four clusters appear to be part of a massive burst of star formation 10-20 million years ago at the near end of the bar at the centre of the galaxy. Similar massive clusters have been found near the far end of the galactic bar, but not such large numbers of red supergiants.

Examples

The Orion region showing the red supergiant Betelgeuse
 
Red supergiants are rare stars, but they are visible at great distance and are often variable so there are a number of well-known naked-eye examples:
Other examples have become known on account of their enormous size, more than 1,000 R☉:
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Carbon star

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A carbon star is typically an asymptotic giant branch star, a luminous red giant, whose atmosphere contains more carbon than oxygen; the two elements combine in the upper layers of the star, forming carbon monoxide, which consumes all the oxygen in the atmosphere, leaving carbon atoms free to form other carbon compounds, giving the star a "sooty" atmosphere and a strikingly ruby red appearance. There are also some dwarf and supergiant carbon stars, with the more common giant stars sometimes being called classical carbon stars to distinguish them. 
 
In most stars (such as the Sun), the atmosphere is richer in oxygen than carbon. Ordinary stars not exhibiting the characteristics of carbon stars but cool enough to form carbon monoxide are therefore called oxygen-rich stars.

Carbon stars have quite distinctive spectral characteristics, and they were first recognized by their spectra by Angelo Secchi in the 1860s, a pioneering time in astronomical spectroscopy.

Spectra

Echelle spectra of the carbon star UU Aurigae.
 
By definition carbon stars have dominant spectral Swan bands from the molecule C2. Many other carbon compounds may be present at high levels, such as CH, CN (cyanogen), C3 and SiC2. Carbon is formed in the core and circulated into its upper layers, dramatically changing the layers' composition. In addition to carbon, S-process elements such as barium, technetium, and zirconium are formed in the shell flashes and are "dredged up" to the surface.

When astronomers developed the spectral classification of the carbon stars, they had considerable difficulty when trying to correlate the spectra to the stars' effective temperatures. The trouble was with all the atmospheric carbon hiding the absorption lines normally used as temperature indicators for the stars. 

Carbon stars also show a rich spectrum of molecular lines at millimeter wavelengths and submillimeter wavelengths. In the carbon star IRC+10216 more than 50 different circumstellar molecules have been detected. This star is often used to search for new circumstellar molecules.

Secchi

Carbon stars were discovered already in the 1860s when spectral classification pioneer Angelo Secchi erected the Secchi class IV for the carbon stars, which in the late 1890s were reclassified as N class stars.

Harvard

Using this new Harvard classification, the N class was later enhanced by an R class for less deeply red stars sharing the characteristic carbon bands of the spectrum. Later correlation of this R to N scheme with conventional spectra, showed that the R-N sequence approximately run in parallel with c:a G7 to M10 with regards to star temperature.
MK-type R0 R3 R5 R8 Na Nb
giant equiv. G7-G8 K1-K2 ~K2-K3 K5-M0 ~M2-M3 M3-M4
Teff 4300 3900 ~3700 3450 --- ---

Morgan–Keenan C system

The later N classes correspond less well to the counterparting M types, because the Harvard classification was only partially based on temperature, but also carbon abundance; so it soon became clear that this kind of carbon star classification was incomplete. Instead a new dual number star class C was erected so to deal with temperature and carbon abundance. Such a spectrum measured for Y Canum Venaticorum, was determined to be C54, where 5 refers to temperature dependent features, and 4 to the strength of the C2 Swan bands in the spectrum. (C54 is very often alternatively written C5,4). This Morgan–Keenan C system classification replaced the older R-N classifications from 1960–1993.
MK-type C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7
giant equiv. G4-G6 G7-G8 G9-K0 K1-K2 K3-K4 K5-M0 M1-M2 M3-M4
Teff 4500 4300 4100 3900 3650 3450 --- ---

The Revised Morgan–Keenan system

The two-dimensional Morgan–Keenan C classification failed to fulfill the creators' expectations:
  1. it failed to correlate to temperature measurements based on infrared,
  2. originally being two-dimensional it was soon enhanced by suffixes, CH, CN, j and other features making it impractical for en-masse analyses of foreign galaxies' carbon star populations,
  3. and it gradually occurred that the old R and N stars actually were two distinct types of carbon stars, having real astrophysical significance.
A new revised Morgan–Keenan classification was published in 1993 by Philip Keenan, defining the classes: C-N, C-R and C-H. Later the classes C-J and C-Hd were added. This constitutes the established classification system used today.

class spectrum population MV theory temperature
range (K) 		example(s) # known
classical carbon stars
C-R: the old Harvard class R reborn: are still visible at the blue end of the spectrum, strong isotopic bands, no enhanced Ba line medium disc pop I 0 red giants? 5100-2800 S Cam ~25
C-N: the old Harvard class N reborn: heavy diffuse blue absorption, sometimes invisible in blue, s-process elements enhanced over solar abundance, weak isotopic bands thin disc pop I -2.2 AGB 3100-2600 R Lep ~90
non-classical carbon stars
C-J: very strong isotopic bands of C2 and CN unknown unknown unknown 3900-2800 Y CVn ~20
C-H: very strong CH absorption halo pop II -1.8 bright giants, mass transfer (all C-H:s are binary) 5000-4100 V Ari, TT CVn ~20
C-Hd: hydrogen lines and CH bands weak or absent thin disc pop I -3.5 unknown ? HD 137613 ~7

Astrophysical mechanisms

Carbon stars can be explained by more than one astrophysical mechanism. Classical carbon stars are distinguished from non-classical ones on the grounds of mass, with classical carbon stars being the more massive.

In the classical carbon stars, those belonging to the modern spectral types C-R and C-N, the abundance of carbon is thought to be a product of helium fusion, specifically the triple-alpha process within a star, which giants reach near the end of their lives in the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). These fusion products have been brought to the stellar surface by episodes of convection (the so-called third dredge-up) after the carbon and other products were made. Normally this kind of AGB carbon star fuses hydrogen in a hydrogen burning shell, but in episodes separated by 104-105 years, the star transforms to burning helium in a shell, while the hydrogen fusion temporarily ceases. In this phase, the star's luminosity rises, and material from the interior of the star (notably carbon) moves up. Since the luminosity rises, the star expands so that the helium fusion ceases, and the hydrogen shell burning restarts. During these shell helium flashes, the mass loss from the star is significant, and after many shell helium flashes, an AGB star is transformed into a hot white dwarf and its atmosphere becomes material for a planetary nebula. 

The non-classical kinds of carbon stars, belonging to the types C-J and C-H, are believed to be binary stars, where one star is observed to be a giant star (or occasionally a red dwarf) and the other a white dwarf. The star presently observed to be a giant star accreted carbon-rich material when it was still a main-sequence star from its companion (that is, the star that is now the white dwarf) when the latter was still a classical carbon star. That phase of stellar evolution is relatively brief, and most such stars ultimately end up as white dwarfs. These systems are now being observed a comparatively long time after the mass transfer event, so the extra carbon observed in the present red giant was not produced within that star. This scenario is also accepted as the origin of the barium stars, which are also characterized as having strong spectral features of carbon molecules and of barium (an s-process element). Sometimes the stars whose excess carbon came from this mass transfer are called "extrinsic" carbon stars to distinguish them from the "intrinsic" AGB stars which produce the carbon internally. Many of these extrinsic carbon stars are not luminous or cool enough to have made their own carbon, which was a puzzle until their binary nature was discovered.

The enigmatic hydrogen deficient carbon stars (HdC), belonging to the spectral class C-Hd, seems to have some relation to R Coronae Borealis variables (RCB), but are not variable themselves and lack a certain infrared radiation typical for RCB:s. Only five HdC:s are known, and none is known to be binary, so the relation to the non-classical carbon stars is not known.

Other less convincing theories, such as CNO cycle unbalancing and core helium flash have also been proposed as mechanisms for carbon enrichment in the atmospheres of smaller carbon stars.

Other characteristics

Optical light image of the carbon star VX Andromedae.
 
Most classical carbon stars are variable stars of the long period variable types.

Observing carbon stars

Due to the insensitivity of night vision to red and a slow adaption of the red sensitive eye rods to the light of the stars, astronomers making magnitude estimates of red variable stars, especially carbon stars, have to know how to deal with the Purkinje effect in order not to underestimate the magnitude of the observed star.

Interstellar carbon sowers

Owing to its low surface gravity, as much as half (or more) of the total mass of a carbon star may be lost by way of powerful stellar winds. The star's remnants, carbon-rich "dust" similar to graphite, therefore become part of the interstellar dust. This dust is believed to be a significant factor in providing the raw materials for the creation of subsequent generations of stars and their planetary systems. The material surrounding a carbon star may blanket it to the extent that the dust absorbs all visible light.

Other classifications

Other types of carbon stars include:
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