An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A scenario according to which the existence of peculiar → Wolf-Rayet stars could be explained by intense → mass loss that characterizes → massive stars. An → O-type star loses a significant amount of mass via → stellar winds, revealing first the CNO-burning products at its surface, and subsequently the → helium burning products. These two stages are spectroscopically identified with the → WN Wolf-Rayet
and → WC Wolf-Rayet phases. A version of the scenario would be:
M> 85 Msun: O → LBV → WN → WC → SN
40 >M> 85 Msun: O → WN → WC → SN
25 >M> 40 Msun: O → RSG → WN → WC → SN
20 >M> 25 Msun: O → RSG → WN → SN
10 >M> 20 Msun: OB → RSG → BSG → SN.

The mass ranges shown are meant only to be illustrative; they are a function of → metallicity (see, e.g., Philip Massey, 2003, ARAA 41, 15).

See also: Peter S. Conti, 1976, Mem. Soc. R. Sci. Liège, 6, Ser. 9, 193; scenario, from It. scenario, from L.L. scenarius “of stage scenes,” from L. scena “scene.”