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| Paper: |
Theoretical Developments in Understanding Massive Star Formation |
| Volume: |
387, Massive Star Formation: Observations Confront Theory |
| Page: |
189 |
| Authors: |
Yorke, H.W.; Bodenheimer, P. |
| Abstract: |
Except under special circumstances massive stars in galactic disks will form through accretion. The gravitational collapse of a molecular cloud core will initially produce one or more low-mass quasi-hydrostatic objects of a few Jupiter masses. Through subsequent accretion the masses of these cores grow as they simultaneously evolve toward hydrogen-burning central densities and temperatures. We review the evolution of accreting (proto-)stars, including new results calculated with a publicly available stellar evolution code written by the authors. The evolution of accreting stars depends strongly on the accretion history. We find that for the high accretion rates considered, ∼10−3 M⊙ yr−1, stars of ∼5-10 M⊙ tend to bloat up to radii which may exceed 100 R⊙. Because of the high rate of binarity among massive stars, we expect that these large radii during short phases of evolution will result in mass transfer, common envelope evolution, and a higher number of tight binaries with periods of a few days. |
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