The investigators plan a systematic program of spectroscopy and photometry of O, B, and WR (Wolf-Rayet) stars in the Magellanic Cloud. The goal is to identify, classify, and analyze the spectra of these hot stars to determine their numbers, luminosities, effective temperatures, and other stellar parameters. The results will inform us about the evolution of such hot stars and help make correct interpretations of distant galaxies where individual stars are not resolved. Selected observations will extend this investigation to other galaxies of the Local Group. The hottest stars in our Galaxy are important because their formation and their astronomically almost immediate violent deaths stir up our Galaxy, facilitate formation of ordinary stars like the Sun, and contribute heavy elements that are later used in other stars and in planets. Very hot stars are also among the brightest signposts expected to be useful for understanding distant galaxies, but it is not yet known whether those stars are really the same in distant galaxies and in our Galaxy. Conti and Garmany are exploring the very hot stars in the nearest galaxies, specifically in the Magellanic Clouds, both to learn more about such stars and to help interpret observations of distant galaxies. They will use a new and very efficient spectrograph at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
