First results of near-IR adaptive optics (AO)-assisted imaging, interferometry, and spectroscopy of this Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) are presented. They suggest that the Pistol Star is at least double. If the association is physical, it would reinforce questions concerning the importance of multiplicity for the formation and evolution of extremely massive stars.
@article{arxiv.1010.3342,
title = {High-angular resolution observations of the Pistol Star},
author = {Christophe Martayan and Ronny Blomme and Jean-Baptiste Le Bouquin and Antoine Merand and Guillaume Montagnier and Fernando Selman and Julien Girard and Andrew Fox and Dietrich Baade and Yves Fremat and Alex Lobel and Fabrice Martins and Fabien Patru and Thomas Rivinius and Hugues Sana and Stan Stefl and Jean Zorec and Thierry Semaan},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1010.3342},
year = {2015}
}