Related papers: Episodic Mass Loss and Pre-SN Circumstellar Envelo…

Observations suggest that some massive stars experience violent and eruptive mass loss associated with significant brightening that cannot be explained by hydrostatic stellar models. This event seemingly forms dense circumstellar matter…

Many core-collapse supernova progenitors show indications of enhanced pre-supernova (SN) mass loss and outbursts, some of which could be powered by wave energy transport within the progenitor star. Depending on the star's structure,…

Modern photometric surveys of the sky suggest that many, perhaps most supernovae (SNe) associated with the explosion of massive stars are influenced at an appreciable level by their interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). The…

Mass loss bridges the gap between massive stars and supernovae (SNe) in two major ways: (i) theoretically it is the amount of mass lost that determines the mass of the star prior to explosion, and (ii) observations of the circumstellar…

An increasing number of non-terminal eruptions are being found in the numerous surveys for optical transients. Very little is known about these giant eruptions, their progenitors and their evolutionary state. A greatly improved census of…

Massive star supernovae can be divided into four categories depending on the amount of mass loss from the progenitor star and the star's radius: red supergiant stars with most of the H envelope intact (SN IIP), stars with some H but most…

Stripped-envelope supernovae (Types IIb, Ib, and Ic) that show little or no hydrogen comprise roughly one-third of the observed explosions of massive stars. Their origin and the evolution of their progenitors are not yet fully understood.…

Recent observations of a large fraction of Type II supernovae show traces of dense circumstellar medium (CSM) very close to the progenitor star. If this CSM is created by eruptive mass loss several months before core-collapse, the eruption…

We analyze the late time evolution of 12 supernovae (SNe) occurring over the last ${\sim}$41 years, including nine Type IIP/L, two IIb, and one Ib/c, using UBVR optical data from the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT) and difference imaging.…

Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are a class of massive blue supergiants exhibiting irregular and eruptive instability, sometimes accompanied by extreme mass loss. While they have often been considered to be a brief but very important…

A variety of supernova events, including Type IIn supernovae and ultraluminous supernovae, appear to have lost up to solar masses of their envelopes in 10's to 100's of years leading up to the explosion. In order to explain the close timing…

Supernovae shape the interstellar medium, chemically enrich their host galaxies, and generate powerful interstellar shocks that drive future generations of star formation. The shock produced by a supernova event acts as a type of time…

The host galaxies of nearby (z<0.3) core-collapse supernovae and long-duration gamma-ray bursts offer an excellent means of probing the environments and populations that produce these events' varied massive progenitors. These same young…

While the modern stellar IMF shows a rapid decline with increasing mass, theoretical investigations suggest that very massive stars (>100 solar masses) may have been abundant in the early universe. Other calculations also indicate that,…

Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are rare objects of very high luminosity and mass loss rates, low wind velocities, exhibiting strong irregular photometric and spectral variability. They are generally believed to be a relatively short…

There is observational evidence that supports the existence of Very Massive Stars in the local universe. First, very massive stars (Mini<=320 M) have been observed in the Large Magellanic Cloud . Second, there are observed SNe that bear the…

Most stars will experience episodes of substantial mass loss at some point in their lives. For very massive stars, mass loss dominates their evolution, although the mass loss rates are not known exactly, particularly once the star has left…

Pre-supernova (SN) outbursts from massive stars may be driven by hydrodynamical wave energy emerging from the core of the progenitor star during late nuclear burning phases. Here, we examine the effects of wave heating in stars containing…

We study the runaway mass loss process of major eruptions of luminous blue variables (LBVs) stars, such as the 1837-1856 Great Eruption of Eta Carinae. We follow the evolution of a massive star with a spherical stellar evolution numerical…

Massive stars that lose their hydrogen-rich envelope down to a few tenths of a solar mass explode as extended type IIb supernovae, an intriguing subtype that links the hydrogen-rich type II supernovae with the hydrogen-poor type Ib and Ic.…