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| Paper: |
New Frontiers in the Study of Magnetic Massive Stars with the Habitable Worlds Observatory |
| Monograph: |
10, HWO25 Proceedings Part I: Community Science Case Development Documents |
| Page: |
123 |
| Authors: |
Alexandre David-Uraz; V´eronique Petit; Coralie Neiner; Jean-Claude Bouret; Ya¨el Naz´e; Christiana Erba; Miriam Garcia; Kenneth Gayley; Richard Ignace; Jiˇ ri Krtiˇ cka; Hugues Sana; Nicole St-Louis; Asif ud-Doula |
| DOI: |
10.26624/TYDG7023 |
| Abstract: |
High-mass stars (i.e., stars with masses 8 times greater than that of our Sun and above) are notable for
several reasons: they are characterized by strong winds, which inject energy and chemically enriched material
into their surroundings, and die spectacularly as supernovae, leaving behind exotic compact remnants (neutron
stars and black holes) and heavy elements (such as those that make life on Earth possible). Despite their
relative rarity, they play a disproportionate role in the evolution of the galaxies that host them, and likely also
played a significant role in the early days of the Universe. A subset (∼10%) of these stars was also found
to host magnetic fields on their surface. These fields impact their evolution, and may lead to exotic physics
(e.g., heavy stellar-mass black holes, pair-instability supernovae, magnetars, etc.). However, the detection and
measurement of magnetic fields is limited, due to current instrumentation, to nearby massive stars in the Milky
Way. To truly understand how magnetism arises in massive stars, and what role it might have played in earlier
stages of our Universe, we require next-generation hardware, such as the proposed near-infrared-to-ultraviolet
spectropolarimeter Pollux, on the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). In this contribution, we detail how
Pollux HWO will enable new frontiers in the study of magnetic massive stars, delivering results that will
profoundly impact the fields of stellar formation, stellar evolution, compact objects, and stellar feedback. |
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