A Stellar Parameter Calibration of IUE Data for the Determination of the Present Day Mass Function of High Mass Stars

by Taylor, Kenneth Thomas

A study of stellar atmosphere models and the photometric quantity R is presented here, with R being the ratio of the integrated de-reddened fluxes from the two wavelength regions of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite cameras. The effective temperatures and surface gravities of the stellar atmospheres were calibrated against R and absolute magnitude, using stellar evolution tracks from the literature, and applied to over 156 LMC stars whose masses and mass function are then derived from the results. The results show that the effective temperatures and surface gravities of stars derived from R and absolute magnitude correlate well with those found in the literature. The slope of the initial mass function (IMF) is Gamma = -2.31 for masses 85 Msun > M > 15 Msun. The correlation with R and apparent magnitude could prove useful in better determining the high mass portion of the IMF.