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The polarization state of starlight reflected by a planetary atmosphere uniquely reveals coverage, particle size, and composition of aerosols as well as changing cloud patterns. It is not possible to obtain a comparable level of detailed…
Fast-rotating Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars are potential progenitors of long gamma-ray bursts, but observational verification is challenging. Spectral lines from their expanding stellar wind obscure accurate rotational velocity measurements.…
Line-driven stellar winds are ubiquitous among hot massive stars. In some cases they can become so strong, that the whole star is cloaked by an optically thick wind. The strong outflow gives rise to large emission lines, defining the class…
Because most massive stars have been or will be affected by a companion during the course of their evolution, we cannot afford to neglect binaries when discussing the progenitors of supernovae and GRBs. Analyzing linear polarization in the…
X-ray emission is ubiquitous among massive stars. In the last decade, X-ray observations revolutionized our perception of stellar winds but opened a Pandora's box of urgent problems. X-rays penetrating stellar winds suffer mainly continuum…
Microlensing surveys have proven to be tremendously fruitful in providing valuable data products for many fields of astrophysics, from eclipse lightcurves for substellar candidates to limb darkening in stellar atmospheres. We report on a…
Compression of the stellar winds from rapidly rotating hot stars is described by the wind compression model. However, it was also shown that rapid rotation leads to rotational distortion of the stellar surface, resulting in the appearance…
Recent advances in the modelling of stellar winds driven by radiation pressure make it possible to fit many wind-sensitive features in the UV spectra of hot stars, opening the way for a hydrodynamically consistent determination of stellar…
Sensitive measurements of the linearly polarized spectra of stars can be used to deduce geometric properties of their otherwise unresolved circumstellar environments. This paper describes some of the evidence for optical pumping and…
Photospheric radiation momentum is efficiently transferred by absorption through metal lines to the gaseous matter in the atmospheres of massive stars, sustaining strong winds and mass loss rates. Not only is this critical for the evolution…
Gravitational microlensing, in case of relevant finite source size effects, provides an unique tool for the study of stellar atmospheres through the enhancement of a characteristic polarization signal. Here, we consider a set of highly…
This paper provides testable predictions about starlight polarizations to constrain the geometry of the Galactic magnetic field, in particular the nature of the poloidal component. Galactic dynamo simulations and Galactic dust distributions…
X-ray astronomy allows study of objects which may be associated with compact objects, i.e. neutron stars or black holes, and also may contain strong magnetic fields. Such objects are categorically non-spherical, and likely non-circular when…
This brief review describes radio observations of colliding winds in massive stars starting with the first direct observational support for the colliding-wind model advanced in the early 1990's to explain non-thermal radio and thermal X-ray…
Observations with powerful X-ray telescopes, such as XMM-Newton and Chandra, significantly advance our understanding of massive stars. Nearly all early-type stars are X-ray sources. Studies of their X-ray emission provide important…
New facilities and technologies have advanced our understanding of massive stars significantly over the past 30 years. Here I introduce a new large survey of massive stars using VLT-FLAMES, noting the target fields and observed binary…
Galactic microlensing has been widely used to study the star and planet. The stellar wind plays an important role in the formation, environment and habitability of the planet. In this work we study a binary microlensing system including the…
The most massive stars are thought to lose a significant fraction of their mass in a steady wind during the main-sequence and blue supergiant phases. This in turn sets the stage for their further evolution and eventual supernova, with…
The polarization of light is a critically under-utilized, rich source of information in astronomy. For stars in particular, surface magnetism polarization that can be detected and measured with spectro-polarimetry. Many questions about…
Spectropolarimetric techniques are a mainstay of astrophysical inquiry, ranging from Solar System objects to the Cosmic Background Radiation. This review highlights applications of stellar polarimetry for massive hot stars, particularly in…