Abstract | A survey of M31 for strong-line Wolf-Rayet (W-R) stars has been completed, confirming the trends found previously, that (1) M31 is at present about an order of magnitude less active in star formation than the Galaxy, as reflected in the total number of W-R stars, assumed to have evolved from massive progenitors; (2) the number ratio of late to early WC stars, WCL/WCE, varies systematically with galactocentric radius as in the Galaxy, possibly a consequence of the metallicity gradient in the disk; and (3) most W-R stars lie in the prominent ring of active star formation at R = 7-12 kpc from the center of M31. |