Stellar evolution through the Red Supergiant phase

Abstract

Massive stars less massive than ~30 Msol evolve into a red supergiant after the main sequence. Given a standard IMF, this means about 80% of all single massive stars will experience this phase. RSGs are dominated by convection, with a radius that may extend up to thousands of solar radii. Their low temperature and gravity make them prone to lose large amounts of masses, either through a pulsationally-driven wind or through mass-loss outburst. RSGs are the progenitors of the most common core-collapse supernovae, the type II. In the present review, we give an overview of our theoretical understanding about this spectacular phase of massive stars evolution.