Virginia Tech Astronomy Seminar Spring 2023: Massive Stars and Multi-messenger Astronomy

What is the end of life like for supergiant stars and how do they get there? While stellar evolution for massive stars during the final years is poorly understood, we can describe many characteristics of massive stars. Archival imaging confirmed the theory that red supergiants (RSGs) are the progenitors of the most common core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe), type II-P, connecting both ends of a hugely disruptive transition which allows for fundamental tests of stellar evolution theory. This makes RSGs particularly interesting massive stars and their cataloging is of particular use in preparation for CCSNe. We discuss the astrophysics of RSGs, their connection to CCSNe, and their use for multimessenger astronomy.