The luminosity distribution of RSGs to test their mass-loss rate

The red supergiant phase is an important phase of the evolution of massive star, as it mostly determines its final stages. One of the most important driver of the evolution during this phase is mass loss. However, the mass-loss rates prescription used for red supergiants in current stellar evolution models are still very inaccurate.

Varying the mass-loss rate makes the star evolve for some time in yellow/blue regions of the HRD, modifying the number of RSGs in some luminosity ranges. Figure 1 shows how the luminosity distribution of RSGs is modified for various mass-loss prescriptions. This illustrates that it is theoretically possible to determine at least roughly what is the typical mass loss regime of RSGs in a stellar evolution perspective.