Related papers: Luminous Blue Variables
We investigate the question whether there is a real difference in the light change between stars classified as semiregular (SRV) or irregular (Lb) variables by analysing photometric light curves of 12 representatives of each class. Using…
Blue large-amplitude pulsators (BLAPs) are a recently discovered class of short-period pulsating variable stars. In this work, we present new information on these stars based on photometric and spectroscopic data obtained for known and new…
We examine high-cadence space photometry taken by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) of a sample of evolved massive stars (26 Wolf-Rayet stars and 8 Luminous Blue Variables or candidate LBVs). To avoid confusion problems, only…
The properties of radial nonlinear pulsations of massive blue stars are computed with the MESA software instrument in its dynamical mode. Pulsational instabilities could be computationally detected and followed if the evolutionary timestep…
I discuss observational clues concerning episodic mass-loss properties of massive stars in the time before the final supernova explosion. In particular, I will focus on the mounting evidence that LBVs and related stars are candidates for…
The Blue Large-Amplitude Pulsators (BLAPs) constitute a new class of pulsating stars. They are hot stars with effective temperatures of $T_{\rm eff}\sim 30\,000$ K and surface gravities of $\log g \sim 4.9$, that pulsate with periods in the…
The stellar winds of massive stars show large changes in mass-loss rates and terminal velocities during their evolution from O-star through the Luminous Blue Variable phase to the Wolf-Rayet phase. The luminosity remains approximately…
Blue straggler stars are unique main-sequence stars that appear more luminous, hotter, and therefore younger, than their coeval counterparts. In star clusters, these stars are located above the cluster turn-off in the Hertzsprung-Russell…
The Luminous Blue Variable stars exhibit behavior ranging from light curve `microvariations' on timescales of tens of days, to `outbursts' accompanied by mass loss of up to 10e-03 solar masses per year, occurring decades apart, to `giant…
Very massive stars (VMS) are defined as stars with an initial mass in excess of 100 Msun. Because of their short lifetime and the shape of the stellar mass function, they are rare objects. Only about twenty of them are known in the Galaxy…
Long-period variable stars (LPVs) are pulsating red giants, primarily in the asymptotic giant branch phase, and they include both Miras and semi-regular variables (SRVs). Their period-age and period-luminosity relations enable us to trace…
Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies (LCBGs) are common at z~1, contributing significantly to the total star formation rate density. By z~0, they are a factor of ten rarer. While we know that LCBGs evolve rapidly, we do not know what drives their…
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…
We report optical photometric and spectroscopic observations of the M33 star B416, establishing it as the fifth identified LBV in that galaxy. The B magnitude of the star varies with a period of 8.26 day and an amplitude of 0.03 magnitude.…
Blue supergiant stars of B and A spectral types are amongst the visually brightest non-transient astronomical objects. Their intrinsic brightness makes it possible to obtain high quality optical spectra of these objects in distant galaxies,…
We present the light curve of Luminous Blue Variable candidate star GR290 (Romano's star) in M33. The photographic photometry was made in photographic plates taken in B band of the M33 galaxy and cover an eight year period, 1982 - 1990.…
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…
Long period variable stars arise in the final stages of the asymptotic giant branch phase of stellar evolution. They have periods of up to ~1000d and amplitudes that can exceed a factor of three in the I-band flux. These stars pulsate…
[abridged] Context: Very few examples of luminous blue variable (LBV) stars or LBV candidates (LBVc) are known, particularly at metallicities below the SMC. The LBV phase is crucial for the evolution of massive stars, and its behavior with…
We are re-analyzing the MACHO variable star database to explore the relationships between pulsation, evolution, and mass loss in evolved stars. We will analyze the multi-periodic properties of long period variable (LPV) stars, 50% of which…