Two waves of massive stars running away from the young cluster R136

Mitchel Stoop (), Alex Koter, Lex Kaper, Sarah Brands, Simon Portegies Zwart, Hugues Sana, Fiorenzo Stoppa, Mark Gieles, Laurent Mahy, Tomer Shenar, Difeng Guo, Gijs Nelemans and Steven Rieder
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Mitchel Stoop: University of Amsterdam
Alex Koter: University of Amsterdam
Lex Kaper: University of Amsterdam
Sarah Brands: University of Amsterdam
Simon Portegies Zwart: Leiden University
Hugues Sana: KU Leuven
Fiorenzo Stoppa: Radboud University
Mark Gieles: ICREA
Laurent Mahy: Royal Observatory of Belgium
Tomer Shenar: Tel Aviv University
Difeng Guo: University of Amsterdam
Gijs Nelemans: KU Leuven
Steven Rieder: KU Leuven

Nature, 2024, vol. 634, issue 8035, 809-812

Abstract: Abstract Massive stars are predominantly born in stellar associations or clusters1. Their radiation fields, stellar winds and supernovae strongly impact their local environment. In the first few million years of a cluster’s life, massive stars are dynamically ejected and run away from the cluster at high speed2. However, the production rate of dynamically ejected runaways is poorly constrained. Here we report on a sample of 55 massive runaway stars ejected from the young cluster R136 in the Large Magellanic Cloud. An astrometric analysis of Gaia data3–5 reveals two channels of dynamically ejected runaways. The first channel ejects massive stars in all directions and is consistent with dynamical interactions during and after the birth of R136. The second channel launches stars in a preferred direction and may be related to a cluster interaction. We found that 23–33% of the most luminous stars initially born in R136 are runaways. Model predictions2,6,7 have significantly underestimated the dynamical escape fraction of massive stars. Consequently, their role in shaping and heating the interstellar and galactic media and their role in driving galactic outflows are far more important than previously thought8,9.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08013-8

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