3D Radiation Hydrodynamics of Blue Supergiant Envelopes

Abstract

We present the first 3D radiation hydrodynamical simulation of the outer envelope of a blue supergiant. These near Eddington limited massive stars in the Hertzsprung gap exhibit substantial photometric variability and have spectroscopic line widths indicating unexplained macroturbulent velocity fields. Our Athena++ simulations find that the convection associated with the opacity peak from iron directly extends to the photosphere, as found in previous 3D simulations of massive main sequence stars. Unlike 1D stellar models, this single convecting region imprints a velocity field that is consistent with spectroscopic models of macroturbulence. In addition, the convection in the outermost layer leads to such large density variations that the exiting radiation varies on large ($\lesssim 10 \% $) amplitudes and short ($\sim$ days) timescales. This leads to stochastic low frequency (SLF) photometric variability, with amplitudes and power spectra broadly consistent with observations.