Red supergiants as progenitors of core-collapse supernovae

Red supergiants are confirmed progenitors of core-collapse supernovae of type II-P. However, it is not very well known which red supergiants produce a SN II-P, which ones might produce another type of SN or SN-less collapse, and which ones will transform into a hotter object before collapse. Much of this question relies on the strength of the mass loss during the red supergiant phase. This mass loss, including dust production, also sets the environmental conditions within which any SN explodes. This project seeks to make a census of red supergiants in nearby galaxies, measure their luminosities, radii and mass-loss rates, and relate these properties to those of SNe, SN progenitors, and other stellar populations (both less and more evolved) in the same systems.