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P. Massey (Lowell Observatory), K. A. G. Olsen (CTIO/NOAO), J. W. Parker (SwRI)
The Magellanic Clouds have long served as our main astrophysical laboratory in studying massive stars. Such studies allow us to investigate star formation processes (such as the initial mass function), massive star evolution, and the physical properties of the most luminous and massive stars. Recently we have obtained spectroscopy at CTIO of a large sample of hot luminous stars identified by a UBVR CCD survey (Massey 2002, ApJS, 141, 81). The spectra reveals a wealth of interesting new objects, including a newly found Wolf-Rayet star in the SMC, and what appears to be a He-rich O3 star in the LMC. Followup HST spectra have now been obtained on the latter. These data complement a recently completed spectroscopic study of red supergiants that has just appeared in AJ (Massey & Olsen 2003). In this poster we give highlights of these recent studies. This work has received generous support from the National Science Foundation (through AST-0093060), from NASA (through HST GO-9795), and from the National Optical and Astronomy Observatories (through the granting of observing time at CTIO).
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.