Related papers: M33's Variable A -- A Hypergiant Star More Than 35…
I review recent progress on understanding eruptions of unstable massive stars, with particular attention to the diversity of observed behavior in extragalatic optical transient sources that are generally associated with giant eruptions of…
Stars with masses in the range from about 1.3 to 3.5 Mo pass through an evolutionary stage where they become carbon stars. In this stage, which lasts a few Myr, these stars are extremely luminous pulsating giants. They are so luminous in…
Massive stars play a significant role in the chemical and dynamical evolution of galaxies. However, much of their variability, particularly during their evolved supergiant stage, is poorly understood. To understand the variability of…
Cas A is a Galactic supernova remnant whose supernova explosion is observed to be of Type IIb from spectroscopy of its light echo. Having its SN type known, observational constraints on the mass-loss history of Cas A's progenitor can…
It has been recently demonstrated that the recurring high/low states in the peculiar binary V Sge can be explained by considering the limit-cycle oscillation involving negative feedback by the wind on the mass-transfer from the secondary…
The hot massive luminous blue variables (LBVs) represent an important evolutionary phase of massive stars. Here, we report the discovery of a new LBV -- LAMOST J0037+4016 in the distant outskirt of the Andromeda galaxy. It is located in the…
We present ten years of new photometric monitoring of the light variability of five evolved stars with strong mid-infrared emission from surrounding dust. Three are known carbon-rich proto-planetary nebulae (PPNe) with F$-$G spectral types;…
M stars are powerful emitters of far-ultraviolet light. Over long timescales, a significant, possibly dominant, fraction of this emission is produced by stellar flares. Characterizing this emission is critical to understanding the…
Many giant stars are magnetically active, which causes rotational variability, chromospheric emission lines, and X-ray emission. Large outbursts in these emission features can set limits on the magnetic field strength and thus constrain the…
As an exoplanet orbits its host star it reflects and emits light, forming a distinctive phase curve. By observing this light, we can study the atmosphere and surface of distant planets. The planets in our Solar System show a wide range of…
Low- and intermediate-mass stars go through a period of intense mass-loss at the end of their lives in a phase known as the asymptotic giant branch (AGB). During the AGB a significant fraction of their initial mass is expelled in a stellar…
Interferometric observations of the W33A massive star-formation region, performed with the Submillimeter Array (SMA) and the Very Large Array (VLA) at resolutions from 5 arcsec (0.1 pc) to 0.5 arcsec (0.01 pc) are presented. Our three main…
The Galactic microquasar SS433 occasionally exhibits a major flare when the intensity of its emission increases significantly and rapidly. We present an analysis of high-resolution, almost-nightly optical spectra obtained before, during and…
Galactic winds are associated with intense star formation and AGNs. Depending on their formation mechanism and velocity they may remove a significant fraction of gas from their host galaxies, thus suppressing star formation, enriching the…
NGC 5273 is a known optical and X-ray variable AGN. We analyze new and archival IR, optical, UV, and X-ray data in order to characterize its long-term variability from 2000 to 2022. At least one optical changing-look event occurred between…
Since their discovery more than 60 years ago, accreting supermassive black holes in active galactic nuclei (AGN) were recognized as highly variable sources, requiring an extremely compact, dynamic environment. Their variability traces to…
Searching for variability, we have observed a sample of hot post-AGB stars and young Planetary Nebulae candidates with the Very Large Array at 4.8, 8.4, and 22.4 GHz. The sources had been previously detected in the radio continuum, which is…
We have analyzed a 90 ksec long observation of the bright nucleus of M33 made with Chandra/ACIS. We detected low-amplitude (~sim10%) highly significant variability on timescales of ~5000 sec. We also find associated spectral variability.…
HD 5980 is a unique system containing one massive star (star A) that is apparently entering the luminous blue variable phase, and an eclipsing companion (star B) that may have already evolved beyond this phase to become a Wolf-Rayet star.…
Most types of massive stars display X-ray emission that is affected by the properties of their stellar winds. Single non-magnetic OB stars have an X-ray luminosity that scales with their bolometric luminosity and their emission is thought…