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The IAU Commision G2 on Massive Stars has an origin in the IUA Working Group Massive Stars which initiated operations in 1995.

Our commission's focus is the study of massive stars, both individually and in resolved and unresolved populations. These objects populate the upper part of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. On the main-sequence these stars are spectroscopically identified as types O and early B, while later evolutionary stages encompass supergiants and Wolf-Rayet stars. Our group also studies some stars of lower mass, which may show many features similar or related to those present in massive stars, and thus may improve our understanding of the physical processes occurring in massive stars. Supernovae and related phenomena, as well as binary systems including massive stars are also part of our scientific interests.

Schematic of the 3-dimensional interior structure of a rotating massive star.

Credit: Georges Meynet

Multicolor image of M31's southwest region with the spectacular massive-star formation site NGC 206.


Credit: Phil Massey

©2005 IAU Commision G2 on Massive Stars. All rights reserved. Last modified: November 23, 2016. This website is maintained by Raphael Hirschi (University of Keele, UK), and Liliana Hernández (UNAM, Instituto de Astronomía). Send e-mail with your questions and comments regarding the site: