Astrophysical analysis of these new far-UV data lies in the (near)
future, but the morphology already presages interesting
developments, and indeed provides substantial guidance toward
the interpretations, as it should. HDE 269810 = Sk
211 is
the current candidate for the most massive star known; values near
190
are derived independently from the atmospheric
spectrum, luminosity, and wind terminal velocity (Puls et al. 1995).
The far-UV spectrum, especially the O VI profile, should provide
additional constraints on its extreme fundamental parameters.
Model spectra of Sk
137 and
Puppis, O4 I(n)f, down
to 900 Å are shown by [Kudritski 1992] and [Pauldrach et al. 1994];
in agreement with the observations, the O3 spectrum below
1200 Å has wind profiles only in O VI and S VI, while the O4
develops such profiles in lower ionization features as well. In
relation to the CNO discrepancy between HDE 269698 = Sk
166
and Sk
167, enhanced mixing of processed material in rapid
rotators has been predicted ([Maeder 1987]; [Langer 1992]). However, in
this case the observations show just the opposite, i.e., N enhanced
and C, O deficient in the slower rotator. Evidently, that mechanism
does not apply to this situation, unless it is due to the axis inclinations;
an explanation will likely contribute to improving our understanding of
massive stellar evolution.
NRW acknowledges support for Astro-2/HUT program G15 through NASA--Marshall Space Flight Center grant No. NAG8--1076. The excellent support of the Guest Investigator program by the HUT Team, whose commitment to achieving the best possible results from all the observations was consistently evident, is also acknowledged.