Abstract
We review our present knowledge about the mass of the most luminous or very massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds (MCs). Based on high resolution data gathered during past years, we propose that stars with a present mass over 100 M ⊙ do not seem to exist in the MCs, and stars with an initial mass higher than this limit may be extremely rare. It is shown that in many cases the upper mass limit is proportional to the “seeing” used! This 100 M ⊙ is not a magic number and should not be thought of a strict limit; it represents a working threshold for discussions. In view of the new observational results, models of massive star formation and evolution may be subject to revision. Future improvements in observational techniques and more elaborate theoretical models will undoubtedly provide a more precise value for the upper mass limit of stars.
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Heydari-Malayeri, M. (1993). The most massive stars in the Magellanic Clouds. In: Baschek, B., Klare, G., Lequeux, J. (eds) New Aspects of Magellanic Cloud Research. Lecture Notes in Physics, vol 416. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56432-2_203
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-56432-2_203
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