THE MOST MASSIVE STAR OF THE LARGEST HII REGION IN THE SMALL MAGELLANIC CLOUD

We show that the brightest star in the most important H II region of the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) is a multiple system. The zero-age main sequence (ZAMS) mass of this star drops significantly from the previously estimated value of 130 or 110 M. to less than 85 M. while its present mass falls from 113 M. to 58 M., both due to multiplicity and extinction correction. This is another piece of evidence against the existence of stars more massive than approximately 100 M. in the SMC. We also show that the present mass of one of the two known O3 stars in the SMC is significantly smaller than presently believed.