Related papers: The Missing Luminous Blue Variables and the Bistab…
We present HR Diagrams for the massive star populations in M31 and M33 including several different types of emission-line stars: the confirmed Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), candidate LBVs, B[e] supergiants and the warm hypergiants. We…
We predict quantitative mass-loss rates and terminal wind velocities for early-type supergiants and luminous blue variables (LBVs) using a dynamical version of the Monte Carlo radiative transfer method. First, the observed drop in terminal…
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…
An increasing number of non-terminal eruptions are being found in the numerous surveys for optical transients. Very little is known about these giant eruptions, their progenitors and their evolutionary state. A greatly improved census of…
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are hot, very luminous massive stars displaying large quasi-periodic variations in brightness, radius,and photospheric temperature, on timescales of years to decades. The physical origin of this variability,…
It remains unclear whether massive star evolution is facilitated by mass loss through stellar winds only, or whether episodic mass loss during an eruptive luminous blue variable (LBV) phase is also significant. LBVs exhibit unique…
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) exhibit unique variability features, characterized by episodic outbursts ($>$1 mag) accompanied by spectroscopic changes (S Dor variables). It is debated if all massive stars undergo an LBV-like phase during…
If a massive star has lost significant mass during its red-supergiant stage, it would return to blue region in the HR diagram and spend a part of the core-He burning stage as a blue supergiant having a luminosity to mass ratio (L/M)…
The progenitors of Type IIP supernovae have an apparent upper limit to their initial masses of about 20 solar masses, suggesting that the most massive red supergiants evolve to warmer temperatures before their terminal explosion. But very…
Luminous blue variables are an intermediate stage in the evolution of high-mass stars characterized by extreme mass loss and substantial variability. The stars show large irregular episodic variations on timescales of years to decades in…
Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are expected to play an important role in massive stellar evolution as well as being the progenitors of some of the most luminous supernovae known. In this paper we provide a multiwavelength study of the…
Variable B supergiants (BSGs) constitute a heterogeneous group of stars with complex photometric and spectroscopic behaviours. They exhibit mass-loss variations and experience different types of oscillation modes, and there is growing…
Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are a class of massive blue supergiants exhibiting irregular and eruptive instability, sometimes accompanied by extreme mass loss. While they have often been considered to be a brief but very important…
In the standard view of massive star evolution, luminous blue variables (LBVs) are transitional objects between the most massive O-type stars and Wolf-Rayet (WR) stars. With short lifetimes, these stars should all be found near one another.…
In this series of papers we have presented the results of a spectroscopic survey of luminous and variable stars in the nearby spirals M31 and M33. In this paper, we present spectroscopy of 132 additional luminous stars, variables, and…
We present optical studies of the physical and wind properties, plus CNO chemical abundances, of 25 O9.5-B3 Galactic supergiants. We employ non-LTE, line blanketed, extended model atmospheres, which provide a modest downward revision in the…
Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) oftentimes show double-troughed absorption in their strong Halpha lines, which are as yet not understood. Intriguingly, the feature has also been seen in the interacting supernova SN 2005gj, which was for this…
(Abridged) Stars more massive than $20-30M_{\odot}$ are so luminous that the radiation force on the cooler, more opaque outer layers can balance or exceed the force of gravity. These near or super-Eddington outer envelopes represent a long…
Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are massive stars with extreme luminosities, exhibiting significant irregular photometric and spectroscopic variability. This paper is dedicated to the study of dormant LBV Var$\,$2 in the galaxy M33, which…
We study the origin of the observed bi-stability jump in the terminal velocity of the winds of supergiants near spectral type B1. To this purpose, we have calculated a grid of wind models and mass-loss rates for these stars. The models show…