Sally Oey
University of Michigan

Abstract
Massive stars are of great cosmological importance due to their high luminosities, production of Lyman continuum radiation, and mechanical power generated from stellar winds and supernova explosions.  The properties of massive stars and these feedback effects depend on metallicity, but much of our traditional knowledge is based on solar-metallicity studies in our own Galaxy.  Stellar evolution is further complicated by binary mass exchange, which we now believe occurs for almost all massive stars at low metallicity.  Stellar kinematics can both probe and exploit binarity to constrain aspects of massive-star evolution, which I will show using Gaia kinematics of various massive-star classes in the metal-poor SMC and LMC.  I will also present Hubble photometry of three super star cluster systems in Mrk 71, a metal-poor starburst in the nearby dwarf galaxy NGC 2366 that reveal populations of photometric binary OB + YSG stars.  These may also offer important constraints on metal-poor massive binary evolution.

2026 November 03, 11:00

IA/U.Porto
Centro de Astrofísica da Universidade do Porto (Auditorium)
Rua das Estrelas, 4150-762 Porto