We identify IRAS 16115-5044, which was previously classified as a protoplanetary nebula (PPN), as a candidate luminous blue variable (LBV). The star has high luminosity (>105.75 L_Sun), ensuring supergiant status, has a temperature similar to LBVs, is photometrically and spectroscopically variable, and is surrounded by warm dust. Its near-infrared spectrum shows the presence of several lines of HI, He I, Fe II, Fe [II], MgII, and Na I with shapes ranging from pure absorption and P Cygni profiles to full emission. These characteristics are often observed together in the relatively rare LBV class of stars, of which only ≈20 are known in the Galaxy. The key to the new classification is the fact that we compute a new distance and extinction that yields a luminosity significantly in excess of those for post-AGB PPNe, for which the initial masses are <8 M_Sun. Assuming single star evolution, we estimate an initial mass of ≈40 M_Sun.
@article{arxiv.2009.11122,
title = {A new candidate Luminous Blue Variable},
author = {Donald F. Figer and Francisco Najarro and Maria Messineo and J. Simon Clark and Karl M. Menten},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2009.11122},
year = {2020}
}