Related papers: Modelling Luminous-Blue-Variable Isolation
Stars with B[e] phenomenon comprise a very diverse group of objects in a different evolutionary status. These objects show common spectral characteristics, including presence of Balmer lines in emission, forbidden lines, and strong infrared…
The period-luminosity sequences and the multiple periods of luminous red giant stars are examined using the OGLE III catalogue of long-period variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It is shown that the period ratios in individual…
At high metallicity, a majority of massive stars have at least one close stellar companion. The evolution of such binaries is subject to strong interaction processes, heavily impacting the characteristics of their life-ending supernova and…
The mechanism by which supergiant (sg)B[e] stars support cool, dense dusty discs/tori and their physical relationship with other evolved, massive stars such as luminous blue variables is uncertain. In order to investigate both issues we…
Modelling ellipsoidal variables with known distances can lead to exact determination of the masses of both components, even in the absence of eclipses. We present such modelling using light and radial velocity curves of ellipsoidal red…
The mass discrepancy problem, observed in high-mass stars within eclipsing binaries, highlights systematic differences between dynamical and evolutionary mass estimates, challenging the accuracy of stellar evolution models. We aim to…
Long secondary periods (LSPs), observed in a third of pulsating red giant stars, are the only unexplained type of large-amplitude stellar variability known at this time. Here we show that this phenomenon is a manifestation of a substellar…
We present a new analysis of the long-period variables in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) from the MACHO Variable Star Catalog. Three-quarters of our sample of evolved, variable stars have periodic light curves. We characterize the stars…
Evidence suggests that the direct progenitor stars of some core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) are luminous blue variables (LBVs), perhaps including some `superluminous supernovae' (SLSNe). We examine models in which massive stars gain mass…
The interaction between supernova ejecta and circumstellar matter, arising from previous episodes of mass loss, provides us with a means with which to constrain the progenitors of supernovae. Radio observations of a number of supernovae…
During the course of their evolution, massive stars lose a substantial fraction of their initial mass, both through steady winds and through relatively brief eruptions during their Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) phase. This talk reviews the…
Double white dwarf binaries are an important remnant of binary evolution as they are possible type Ia supernova progenitors and strong sources of gravitational waves in the low-frequency regime. The double-lined double white dwarf (DBL)…
The recent gravitational wave measurements have demonstrated the existence of stellar mass black hole binaries. It is essential for our understanding of massive star evolution to identify the contribution of binary evolution to the…
Luminous Blue Variables have been suggested to be the direct progenitors of supernova types IIb and IIn, with enhanced mass loss prior to explosion. However, the mechanism of this mass loss is not yet known. Here, we investigate the…
Detached eclipsing double line spectroscopic binaries offer an opportunity to measure directly stellar parameters: mass, luminosity, radius, as well as the distance. The only non-trivial step is the need to determine surface brightness of…
Gravitational waves from merging binary black holes can be used to shed light on poorly understood aspects of massive binary stellar evolution, such as the evolution of massive stars (including their mass-loss rates), the common envelope…
Roughly 30% of variable AGB stars show a Long Secondary Period, or LSP. These LSPs have posed something of a problem in recent years and their cause remains a mystery. By combining VLT-derived velocity curves with MACHO and OGLE light…
The mass-luminosity relation is a fundamental law of astrophysics. We have suggested that the currently used mass-luminosity relation is not correct for the M/M_sun > 2.7 range of mass since it was created using double-lined eclipsing…
Observational arguments supporting the binary explanation of the long secondary periods (LSP) phenomenon in red giants are presented. Photometry of about 1200 semiregular variables with the LSP in the Large Magellanic Cloud are analyzed…
We study mass loss from the outer Lagrange point (L2) in binary stellar mergers and their luminous transients by means of radiative hydrodynamical simulations. Previously, we showed that for binary mass ratios 0.06 < q < 0.8, synchronous L2…