Related papers: Dusty Blue Supergiants: News from High-Angular Res…
We present new optical spectroscopic and archival Spitzer IRAC photometric observations of a B-type star in the SMC cluster NGC 346, NGC 346:KWBBe 200. We detect numerous Fe II, [O I], and [Fe II] lines, as well as strong P-Cygni profile H…
Using the latest generation of adaptive optics imaging systems together with laser guide stars on 8m-class telescopes, we are finally revealing the previously-hidden population of supernovae in starburst galaxies. Finding these supernovae…
Massive stars can develop into tepid supergiants at several stages of their post main-sequence evolution, prior to core He-burning, on a blue loop, or close to the final supernova explosion. We discuss observational constraints on models of…
Because of their brightness, gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglows are viable targets for investigating the dust content in their host galaxies. Simple intrinsic spectral shapes of GRB afterglows allow us to derive the dust extinction. Recently,…
This article is based on an invited talk given by V. P. Kulkarni at the 8th Cosmic Dust meeting. Dust has a profound effect on the physics and chemistry of the interstellar gas in galaxies and on the appearance of galaxies. Understanding…
Among the emission-line stars, the classical Be stars known for their extreme properties are remarkable. The Be stars are B-type main sequence stars that have displayed at least once in their life emission lines in their spectrum. Beyond…
How massive stars end their lives remains an open question in the field of star evolution. While the majority of stars above 9 M_sun will become red supergiants (RSGs), the terminal state of these massive stars can be heavily influenced by…
High-resolution X-ray spectroscopy has addressed not only various topics in coronal physics of stars, but has also uncovered important features relevant for our understanding of stellar evolution and the stellar environment. I summarize…
Red supergiants (RSGs) are an evolved stage in the life of intermediate massive stars (<25Mo). For many years their location in the H-R diagram was at variance with the evolutionary models. Using the MARCS stellar atmosphere models, we have…
Massive stars evolve across the HR diagram, losing mass along the way and forming a variety of ring nebulae. During the main sequence stage, the fast stellar wind sweeps up the ambient interstellar medium to form an interstellar bubble.…
The red-giant branch bump provides valuable information for the investigation of the internal structure of low-mass stars. Because current models are unable to accurately predict the occurrence and efficiency of mixing processes beyond…
Recent UV-optical surveys have been successful in finding tidal disruption events (TDEs), in which a star is tidally disrupted by a supermassive black hole (BH). These TDEs release a huge amount of radiation energy ~ 10^51-52 erg into the…
We are investigating the formation and evolution of dust around the hydrogen-deficient supergiants known as R Coronae Borealis (RCB) stars. We aim to determine the connection between the probable merger past of these stars and their current…
Blue supergiants are the brightest stars in their host galaxies and yet their evolutionary status has been a long-standing problem in stellar astrophysics. In this pioneering work, we present a large sample of 59 early B-type supergiants in…
Planet formation studies are often focused on solar-type stars, implicitly considering our Sun as reference point. This approach overlooks, however, that Herbig Ae/Be stars are in some sense much better targets to study planet formation…
Recent observations of the environments of gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) favour massive stars as their progenitors, which are likely to be surrounded by gas and dust. The visibility of the optical and UV emission of a GRB are expected to depend…
The X-ray regime is a largely underused resource for constraining interstellar dust grain models and improving our understanding of the physical processes that dictate how grains evolve over their lifetimes. This is mostly due to current…
Recent high-angular-resolution (up to 0.7") dust polarization observations toward star forming regions are summarized. With the Sub-Millimeter Array, the emission from the dense structures is traced and resolved. The detected magnetic field…
About 10$\%$ of the massive main sequence stars have recently been found to host a strong, large scale magnetic field. Both, the origin and the evolutionary consequences of these fields are largely unknown. We argue that these fields may be…
I review existing methods for determining mass-loss rates of red giants and red supergiants based on infrared data. The simplest method is based on models for the absorption and emission by dust which forms in the dense outflows from these…