Related papers: Probing the ejecta of evolved massive stars in tra…
Massive stars expel large amounts of mass during their late evolutionary phases. We aim to unveil the physical conditions within the warm molecular environments of B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) and yellow hypergiants (YHGs), which are known to…
The advanced stages of several high-mass stars are characterized by episodic mass loss shed during phases of instability. Key for assigning these stars a proper evolutionary state is to assess the composition and geometry of their ejecta…
B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) are transitional objects in the post-main sequence evolution of massive stars. The small number of B[e]SGs known so far in the Galaxy and the Magellanic Clouds indicates that this evolutionary phase is short.…
Mass loss is one of the key parameters that determine stellar evolution. Despite the progress we have achieved over the last decades we still cannot match the observational derived values with theoretical predictions. Even worse, there are…
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…
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…
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are suprisingly isolated from the massive O-type stars that are their putative progenitors in single-star evolution, implicating LBVs as binary evolution products. Aadland et al. (A19) found that LBVs are,…
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) exhibit unique variability features, characterized by episodic outbursts ($>$1 mag) accompanied by spectroscopic changes (S Dor variables). It is debated if all massive stars undergo an LBV-like phase during…
In the standard view of massive star evolution, luminous blue variables (LBVs) are transitional objects between the most massive O-type stars and Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. With short lifetimes, these stars should all be found near one another.…
We present HR Diagrams for the massive star populations in M31 and M33 including several different types of emission-line stars: the confirmed Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), candidate LBVs, B[e] supergiants and the warm hypergiants. We…
In this series of papers we have presented the results of a spectroscopic survey of luminous and variable stars in the nearby spirals M31 and M33. In this paper, we present spectroscopy of 132 additional luminous stars, variables, and…
Stellar evolution theory is most uncertain for massive stars. For reliable predictions of the evolution of massive stars and their final fate, solid constraints on the physical parameters, and their changes along the evolution and in…
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…
Stars more massive than about 8 Msun end their lives as a Supernova (SN), an event of fundamental importance Universe-wide. Theoretically, these stars have been expected to be either at the red supergiant, blue supergiant, or Wolf-Rayet…
We present a mini-survey of Galactic B[e] stars mainly undertaken with the Large Binocular Telescope (LBT). B[e] stars show morphological features with hydrogen emission lines and an infrared excess, attributed to warm circumstellar dust.…
Massive evolved stars loss a large fraction of their mass via copious stellar wind or instant outbursts and during certain evolutionary phases they can be identified via the presence of their circumstellar nebulae. In this paper, we present…
Aims: The X-ray emission of massive stars has been studied when these objects are in their main-sequence phase, as well as in their Wolf-Rayet phase. However, the X-ray properties of the transitional Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) phase…
Context. Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are rare massive stars with very high luminosity. They are characterized by strong photo-metric and spectroscopic variability related to transient eruptions. The mechanisms at the origin of these…
Massive stars typically undergo short-lived post-main sequence evolutionary phases with strong mass loss and occasional mass eruptions. Many of such massive stars in transition phases have been identified based on their dusty envelopes. The…
The post-main-sequence evolution of massive stars involves phases of intense, often eruptive mass loss, including the B[e] supergiant phase. These hot stars are surrounded by cool, dense circumstellar disks that host complex chemistry,…