Cambridge University Press (CUP), Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union, S230(1), p. 35
DOI: 10.1017/s1743921306007757
Full text: Unavailable
Very massive stars (${\gtrsim} 20$ M$_{⊙}$) are rare but important components of galaxies. Products of core nucleosynthesis from these stars are distributed into the circumstellar environment via wind-driven mass loss. Explosive nucleosynthesis after core collapse further enriches the galactic medium. Clusters of such stars can produce galactic chimneys which can pierce the galactic disk and chemically enrich intergalactic space. Such processes are vitally important to the chemical evolution of the early Universe, when the stellar mass function was much more weighted to massive stars.