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Science Enabled by a 30-Meter-Class Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere: Massive Stars at Low Metallicity

Miriam Garcia, Artemio Herrero, Ignacio Negueruela, Norberto Castro, Sara R. Berlanas, Miguel Cerviño, Gonzalo Holgado, Jorge Iglesias-Páramo, Carolina Kehrig, Jesús Maíz Apellániz, J. Miguel Mas-Hesse, Francisco Najarro, Sergio Simón-Díaz, José M. Vílchez

TL;DR

The paper addresses how to extend our understanding of massive stars into the extremely metal-poor regime crucial for interpreting the Cosmic Dawn. It argues for using 30-meter-class telescopes with adaptive optics and high-multiplex spectroscopy to observe nearby, very low-metallicity galaxies (e.g., I Zw18, IC 10, Sex A) and to build a metallicity ladder spanning $0.01Z_{\odot}$ to higher values, in synergy with space facilities. The key contributions include a concrete observational strategy to calibrate massive-star evolution and feedback at low $Z$, an emphasis on Northern Hemisphere targets, and a link between these observations and the interpretation of high-redshift galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, and gravitational-wave progenitors. This framework aims to provide robust empirical anchors for modeling the early Universe and the high-energy transient landscape across cosmic time.

Abstract

Massive stars are at the core of our observations of the Universe up to the reionization epoch, both through their intense ionizing fluxes and through the energetic end products that release fresh elements into the interstellar medium. Our interpretation of very high redshift galaxies and transient phenomena depends on knowledge derived from massive star populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, with characteristics that only remotely resemble the conditions in the early Universe. However, the models supporting these interpretations have been tested in a narrow range of environments and carry significant uncertainties when extrapolated. Advancing in our understanding of the Universe beyond the Local Volume therefore requires extending massive star studies to conditions representative of the early Universe. The next generation of telescopes has the potential to accomplish this goal.

Science Enabled by a 30-Meter-Class Telescope in the Northern Hemisphere: Massive Stars at Low Metallicity

TL;DR

The paper addresses how to extend our understanding of massive stars into the extremely metal-poor regime crucial for interpreting the Cosmic Dawn. It argues for using 30-meter-class telescopes with adaptive optics and high-multiplex spectroscopy to observe nearby, very low-metallicity galaxies (e.g., I Zw18, IC 10, Sex A) and to build a metallicity ladder spanning to higher values, in synergy with space facilities. The key contributions include a concrete observational strategy to calibrate massive-star evolution and feedback at low , an emphasis on Northern Hemisphere targets, and a link between these observations and the interpretation of high-redshift galaxies, gamma-ray bursts, and gravitational-wave progenitors. This framework aims to provide robust empirical anchors for modeling the early Universe and the high-energy transient landscape across cosmic time.

Abstract

Massive stars are at the core of our observations of the Universe up to the reionization epoch, both through their intense ionizing fluxes and through the energetic end products that release fresh elements into the interstellar medium. Our interpretation of very high redshift galaxies and transient phenomena depends on knowledge derived from massive star populations in the Milky Way and nearby galaxies, with characteristics that only remotely resemble the conditions in the early Universe. However, the models supporting these interpretations have been tested in a narrow range of environments and carry significant uncertainties when extrapolated. Advancing in our understanding of the Universe beyond the Local Volume therefore requires extending massive star studies to conditions representative of the early Universe. The next generation of telescopes has the potential to accomplish this goal.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 3 sections, 1 figure.

Table of Contents

  1. Massive stars at low metallicity
  2. Our laboratory: the nearby low metallicity star-forming galaxies
  3. The crucial role of the Northern Hemisphere: IC 10 and I Zw18

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Metallicity ladder to Cosmic Dawn. Colours represent the sky hemisphere where galaxies can be observed: North (red), South (green) or both (blue). Present-day facilities allow us to reach 1/10 Z$_\odot$ metallicities. Beyond, larger telescopes of the 30-m class are required. I Zw18, with very low-Z and strong SFR, is the ideal environment to confront massive star evolution and RDW theories.