Abstract
VX-Sagittarii is a red supergiant with a superwind which is observed in several maser lines. They provide an evidence that the outflow velocity keeps growing considerably at large distance from the star. It is argued that this phenomenon can be explained by stellar evolutionary effects.
As a rule, the outflow velocity for late type stars correlates with the mass loss rate and from that it is suggested that the mass loss rate was higher in the past and is decreasing now. The mass of VX Sagittarii can be estimated on this basis and is about 40–50M ⊙
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Netzer, N. The gradual acceleration of the outflow of VX-Sagittarii: A stellar evolutionary effect?. Space Sci Rev 66, 225–230 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771071
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00771071