Cool, Luminous, and Highly Variable Stars in the Magellanic Clouds. II: Spectroscopic and Environmental Analysis of Thorne-\.Zytkow Object and Super-AGB Star Candidates

TL;DR

This study investigates a population of luminous variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds, analyzing their spectra and environments to distinguish between Thorne-Zytkow Objects and super-AGB stars, revealing insights into their nature and evolutionary status.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed spectroscopic and environmental analysis of these stars, offering new evidence to classify them as super-AGB stars or Thorne-Zytkow Objects, and explores their nucleosynthesis signatures.

Findings

Most stars show signs of super-AGB nucleosynthesis.

HV 2112 exhibits features consistent with TZO nucleosynthesis.

Stars are not associated with recent star formation regions.

Abstract

In previous work we identified a population of 38 cool and luminous variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds and examined 11 in detail in order to classify them as either Thorne-\.Zytkow Objects (T\.ZOs, red supergiants with a neutron star cores) or super-AGB stars (the most massive stars that will not undergo core collapse). This population includes HV\,2112, a peculiar star previously considered in other works to be either a T\.ZO or high-mass AGB star. Here we continue this investigation, using the kinematic and radio environments and local star formation history of these stars to place constraints on the age of the progenitor systems and the presence of past supernovae. These stars are not associated with regions of recent star formation, and we find no evidence of past supernovae at their locations. Finally, we also assess the presence of heavy elements and lithium in their spectra compared to red supergiants. We find strong absorption in Li and s-process elements compared to RSGs in most of the sample, consistent with super-AGB nucleosynthesis, while HV\,2112 shows additional strong lines associated with T\.ZO nucleosynthesis. Coupled with our previous mass estimates, the results are consistent with the stars being massive (~4-6.5M$_{\odot}$) or super-AGB (~6.5-12M$_{\odot}$) stars in the thermally pulsing phase, providing crucial observations of the transition between low- and high-mass stellar populations. HV\,2112 is more ambiguous; it could either be a maximally massive sAGB star, or a T\.ZO if the minimum mass for stability extends down to <13 M$_\odot$.