New Estimates of the Solar-Neighborhood Massive Star Birthrate and the Galactic Supernova Rate

The birthrate of stars of masses >=10 M is estimated from a sample of just over 400 O3-B2 dwarfs within 1.5 kpc of the Sun and the result extrapolated to estimate the Galactic supernova rate contributed by such stars. The solar-neighborhood Galactic-plane massive star birthrate is estimated at ~1...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astronomical journal 2005-10, Vol.130 (4), p.1652-1657
Main Author: Reed, B. Cameron
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The birthrate of stars of masses >=10 M is estimated from a sample of just over 400 O3-B2 dwarfs within 1.5 kpc of the Sun and the result extrapolated to estimate the Galactic supernova rate contributed by such stars. The solar-neighborhood Galactic-plane massive star birthrate is estimated at ~176 stars kpc-3 Myr-1. On the basis of a model in which the Galactic stellar density distribution comprises a 'disk+central hole' like that of the dust infrared emission (as proposed by Drimmel and Spergel), the Galactic supernova rate is estimated at probably not less than ~1 nor more than ~2 per century and the number of O3-B2 dwarfs within the solar circle at ~200,000.
ISSN:1538-3881
0004-6256
1538-3881
DOI:10.1086/444474