Ultraviolet observations of massive stars and the instrumentation to come

Abstract

The wealth of information obtained about massive stars from observations at ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths has been fundamental to understand their structure and the mechanisms regulating their evolution. There are however, important aspects that have not yet been addressed due to the lack of data and the relevant instrumentation such as the role of binarity and magnetic fields or the impact of low metallicity in the evolution of massive stars. There are plans to develop UV spectropolarimeters, UV monitors and very efficient telescopes with high collecting surfaces that will revolutionize the field. In this contribution, a short update on the current and foreseen UV instrumentation is provided.