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We present new observations of the "supernova impostor" SN 2010da using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. During the initial 2010 outburst, the 0.3-10 keV luminosity was observed by Swift to be…
Recent observations by Mauerhan et al. have shown the unprecedented transition of the previously identified luminous blue variable (and supernova impostor) SN 2009ip to a real Type IIn supernova (SN) explosion. We present high-cadence…
We present observations of supernova (SN) 2017ens, discovered by the ATLAS survey and identified as a hot blue object through the GREAT program. The redshift z=0.1086 implies a peak brightness of M_g=-21.1 mag, placing the object within the…
Very massive stars occasionally expel material in colossal eruptions, driven by continuum radiation pressure rather than blast waves. Some of them rival supernovae in total radiative output, and the mass loss is crucial for subsequent…
The progenitors of some supernovae (SNe) exhibit outbursts with super-Eddington luminosities prior to their final explosions. This behavior is common among Type IIn SNe, but the driving mechanisms of these precursors are not yet well…
We discuss an interesting feature of the distribution of luminous blue variables on the H-R diagram, and we propose a connection with the bistability jump in the winds of early-type supergiants. There appears to be a deficiency of quiescent…
Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are massive stars that are likely to be a transitionary phase between O stars and hydrogen-free classical Wolf-Rayet stars. The variability of these stars has been an area of study for both professional and…
We present photometric and spectroscopic data of the peculiar SN 2005la, an object which shows an optical light curve with some luminosity fluctuations and spectra with comparably strong narrow hydrogen and helium lines, probably of…
We present BVRI photometry and optical spectroscopy of SN 2005bf near light maximum. The maximum phase is broad and occurred around 2005 May 7, about forty days after the shock breakout. SN 2005bf has a peak bolometric magnitude…
A class of supernovae (SNe) termed `SN Ic-CSM' are characterized by late-time emergence of narrow emission lines of elements formed in the oxygen core of a massive star. A popular scenario is the interaction of the SN ejecta and O-rich…
We present optical photometry and spectra of the peculiar Type Ib supernova (SN) 2006jc. Strong and relatively narrow He I emission lines indicate the progenitor star exploded inside a dense circumstellar medium (CSM) rich in He. An…
We present spectroscopy and discuss the photometric history of a previously obscure star in M31. The spectrum of the star is an extremely close match to that of P Cygni, one of the archetypes of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs). The star has…
SN 2014C was an unprecedented supernova (SN) that displayed a metamorphosis from Type Ib to Type IIn over $\sim$200 days. This transformation is consistent with a helium star having exploded in a cavity surrounded by a dense shell of the…
We report on the discovery of a luminous blue variable (LBV) lying ~7 pc in projection from the Quintuplet cluster. This source, which we call LBV G0.120-0.048, was selected for spectroscopy owing to its detection as a strong source of…
We investigate a suspected very massive star in one of the most metal-poor dwarf galaxies, PHL~293B. Excitingly, we find the sudden disappearance of the stellar signatures from our 2019 spectra, in particular the broad H lines with P~Cygni…
In recent years, many Type IIn supernovae have been found to share striking similarities with the peculiar SN 2009ip, whose true nature is still under debate. Here, we present 10 years of observations of SN 2011fh, an interacting transient…
(abridged) We propose the new designation ``WNH'' for luminous Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars of the nitrogen sequence with H in their spectra. These are commonly called WNL stars (e.g., WN7h), but this new shorthand avoids confusion because there…
SN2006tf is the third most luminous SN discovered so far, after SN2005ap and SN2006gy. SN2006tf is valuable because it provides a link between two regimes: (1) luminous type IIn supernovae powered by emission directly from interaction with…
Observations of core-collapse supernovae suggest that some massive stars undergo intense mass loss shortly before explosion, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. Here we report evidence of giant outbursts of clumpy material from a…
We discuss the results of the spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of the type IIn supernova (SN) 2023ldh. Survey archive data show that the SN progenitor experienced some erratic outbursts in the years before exploding. From May 2023,…