Anthony F. J. Moffat
- Professeur émérite
-
Faculté des arts et des sciences - Département de physique
Roger-Gaudry office B422
Télécopieur : 514 343-2071
Affiliations
Areas of Expertise
- Fundamental astronomy
- Pulsations, oscillations, and stellar seismology
- Stellar characteristics and properties
- Mass loss and stellar winds
- Supergiant stars
Massive stars comprise all those with an initial mass exceeding 8 solar masses, and which collapse upon themselves as supernovae at the end of their nuclear "burning" lives, leaving neutron stars or black holes. Since the light produced by a normal star is roughly equivalent to the cube of its mass, a single star of 100 solar masses can emit the equivalent of one million suns. Beyond 20 solar masses, massive stars are distinguished by their strong winds, which can be up to one billion times stronger than that of our Sun, which we already consider quite strong (comets, auroras, etc.). Although they are rare and short-lived, massive stars emit enormous amounts of radiation, most of it in deadly ultraviolet, and matter enriched with heavy elements, into the interstellar environment, ready to form even more generations of stars and planets such as Earth. This process was especially important early in the life of the Universe, when the very first stars were forming, all of them very massive. My research is aimed mainly at exploring: (1) whether the pressure of radiation alone is enough to accelerate the extreme winds of pre-supernova stars, i.e. during the He-burning phase as Wolf-Rayet stars, using the first Canadian spatial telescope on the MOST microsatellite, (2) building a system of microsatellites (BRITE-Constellation) to examine the very low variability of a large sample of luminous stars, (3) how exactly winds accelerate around luminous, hot stars, (4) the role of magnetic fields in accelerating their winds, (5) the mystery of how dust forms and survives in the hostile environment of luminous, hot stars, (6) the upper limit for the most massive stars (100, 150 or 200 solar masses in the current Universe?), (7) the number of WR stars in our entire Galaxy, most of them hidden by interstellar dust, and (8) whether WR stars really do explode into supernovas, leading in some cases to the most energetic (albeit short-lived) phenomenon in the Universe, gamma ray bursts.
Student supervision Expand all Collapse all
Cycle : Doctoral
Grade : Ph. D.
Cycle : Master's
Grade : M. Sc.
Cycle : Master's
Grade : M. Sc.
Research projects Expand all Collapse all
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec - CRAQ Projet de recherche au Canada / 2024 - 2026
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) Projet de recherche au Canada / 2017 - 2025
Massive Stars as Cosmic Engines Projet de recherche au Canada / 2016 - 2023
Centre de recherche en astrophysique du Québec (CRAQ) Projet de recherche au Canada / 2016 - 2018
BRITE-CONSTELLATION SCIENCE Projet de recherche au Canada / 2012 - 2017
CENTRE DE RECHERCHE EN ASTROPHYSIQUE DU QUEBEC Projet de recherche au Canada / 2008 - 2017
MASSIVE STARS AS COSMIC ENGINES Projet de recherche au Canada / 1994 - 2017
MASSIVE STARS AS COSMIC ENGINES Projet de recherche au Canada / 2011 - 2015
Recognition and Awards
- Bourse Killam, Conseil des arts du Canada, 1998.
- Société royale du Canada : Les Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada, Société royale du Canada, 2001.
Additional Information
- 26-04-2004 - Des chercheurs transforment le télescope Hubble en balance stellaire
- 08-06-1998 Une bourse Killam pour Anthony Moffat
- 30-04-2004 - Éjections insolites de matière dans le système binaire en éruption HD 5980
- 25-03-2003 Photo d'Anthony Moffat publiée sur le site de la NASA
- 25-01-1999 Tourbillon de poussière d'étoiles
- 01-11-2004 L'étoile WR 123 livre ses mystères
- 20-11-2006 - Combien pèse l’étoile la plus massive?
- NGC 7419 : une île d’étoiles distinctes
- Honneur
- 30-04-2013 L'étoile la plus massive de l'univers est-elle en cavale?
- 19-06-2014 Deux télescopes spatiaux canadiens exceptionnellement petits et économiques lancés aujourd'hui
- 25-10-2016 Violente collision du vent stellaire entre deux étoiles monstres
- 01-09-2017 Des astronomes retrouvent une nova vieille de 600 ans, observée par des astrologues coréens
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