Red supergiants (RSGs) are a short-lived stage in the evolution of moderately massive stars (10-25M_{sun}_), and as such their location in the H-R diagram provides an exacting test of stellar evolutionary models. Since massive star evolution is strongly affected by the amount of mass loss a star suffers, and since the mass-loss rates depend upon metallicity, it is highly desirable to study the physical properties of these stars in galaxies of various metallicities. Here we identify a sample of RSGs in M31, the most metal-rich of the Local Group galaxies. We determine the physical properties of these stars using both moderate resolution spectroscopy and broadband V-K photometry. We find that on average the RSGs of our sample are variable in V by 0.5mag, smaller but comparable to the 0.9mag found for Magellanic Cloud (MC) RSGs. No such variability is seen at K, also in accord with what we know of Galactic and MC RSGs.

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/703/420/table1 (Photometrically selected RSG candidates in M31)

Cone search capability for table J/ApJ/703/420/table6 (Derived bolometric luminosities for RSGs)