Characterization of massive blue stars in NGC 55

Castro, N.; Herrero, A.; Urbaneja, M. A.; Garcia, M.; Simon-Diaz, S.
Bibliographical reference

Highlights of Spanish Astrophysics VI, Proceedings of the IX Scientific Meeting of the Spanish Astronomical Society (SEA), held in Madrid, September 13 - 17, 2010, Eds.: M. R. Zapatero Osorio, J. Gorgas, J. Maíz Apellániz, J. R. Pardo, and A. Gil de Paz., p. 530-530

Advertised on:
11
2011
Number of authors
5
IAC number of authors
0
Citations
0
Refereed citations
0
Description
Carrying out detailed analyses on massive blue stars further than the Milky Way is a demanding task, however it is feasible and the best way to comprehend the stellar evolution in environments with different metallicity. We present the first quantitative study performed on a massive blue star sample belonging to NGC~55, about 1.9 Mpc away. The project required to develop new automatic techniques, providing an objective spectroscopic analysis method. The results hint to a young population in NGC~55 with masses between about 20-50 Msol, and an average metallicity close to the Large Magellanic Cloud.