galaxies Review UV Spectroscopy of Massive Stars D. John Hillier Department of Physics and Astronomy & Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology Center (PITT PACC), University of Pittsburgh, 3941 O’Hara Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA;
[email protected] Received: 11 July 2020; Accepted: 6 August 2020; Published: 12 August 2020 Abstract: We present a review of UV observations of massive stars and their analysis. We discuss O stars, luminous blue variables, and Wolf–Rayet stars. Because of their effective temperature, the UV (912 − 3200 Å) provides invaluable diagnostics not available at other wavebands. Enormous progress has been made in interpreting and analysing UV data, but much work remains. To facilitate the review, we provide a brief discussion on the structure of stellar winds, and on the different techniques used to model and interpret UV spectra. We discuss several important results that have arisen from UV studies including weak-wind stars and the importance of clumping and porosity. We also discuss errors in determining wind terminal velocities and mass-loss rates. Keywords: massive stars; O stars; Wolf–Rayet stars; UV; mass loss; stellar winds 1. Introduction According to Wien’s Law, the peak of a star’s energy distribution occurs in the UV for a star whose temperature exceeds 10,000 K. In practice, the temperature needs to exceed 10,000 K because of the presence of the Balmer jump. Temperatures greater than 10,000 K correspond to main-sequence stars of mass greater than ∼ 2 M and spectral types B9 and earlier. Early UV observations were made by rocket-flown instruments (e.g., [1,2]).