Mass fluxes for hot stars

Astrophysics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2AZ, UK

Received: 2 October 2009
Accepted: 20 January 2010

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the extraordinarily small mass-loss rates of late-type O dwarfs, mass fluxes in the relevant part of (T_eff, g)-space are derived from first principles using a previously-described code for constructing moving reversing layers. From these mass fluxes, a weak-wind domain is identified within which a star's rate of mass loss by a radiatively-driven wind is less than that due to nuclear burning. The five weak-wind stars recently analysed by Marcolino et al. (2009, A&A, 498, 837) fall within or at the edge of this domain. But although the theoretical mass fluxes for these stars are ≈1.4 dex lower than those derived with the formula of Vink et al. (2000), the observed rates are still not matched, a failure that may reflect our poor understanding of low-density supersonic outflows. Mass fluxes are also computed for two strong-wind O4 stars analysed by Bouret et al. (2005, A&A, 438, 301). The predictions agree with the sharply reduced mass loss rates found when Bouret et al. take wind clumping into account.