Related papers: Eta Car and other LBVs

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…

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…

Luminous Compact Blue Galaxies (LCBGs) are an extreme star-bursting population of galaxies that were far more common at earlier epochs than today. Based on spectroscopic and photometric measurements of LCBGs in massive (M >10^15 M_sun),…

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.…

We present a brief overview of the theory of stellar winds with a strong emphasis on the radiation-driven outflows from massive stars. The resulting implications for the evolution and fate of massive stars are also discussed. Furthermore,…

OBA hypergiants (OBAHGs) are evolved massive stars with notable wind features in their optical spectrum. Located at the cool edge of the line-driven wind regime, many are candidate luminous blue variables (LBVs) likely near the Eddington…

We present VI-band photometry for stars in the metal-rich globular cluster NGC 6496. Our time-series data were cadenced to search for long period variables (LPVs) over a span of nearly two years, and our variability search yielded the…

Several decades of observations of the most massive and most luminous stars have revealed a complex upper HR Diagram, shaped by mass loss, and inhabited by a variety of evolved stars exhibiting the consequences of their mass loss histories.…

(abridged) We present VLT/X-shooter spectroscopic observations in the wavelength range 3000-23000A of the extremely metal-deficient blue compact dwarf (BCD) galaxy PHL 293B containing a luminous blue variable (LBV) star. We determine…

We present some preliminary results from our program of intensive near-infrared photometric monitoring of a sample of confirmed and candidate Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) conducted from 2008 to 2010. Clear long-term variability has been…

We have found three new LBV candidates in the star-forming galaxy NGC 4736. They show typical well-known LBV spectra, broad and strong hydrogen lines, He I lines, many Fe II lines, and forbidden [Fe II] and [Fe III]. Using archival Hubble…

We have spectroscopically monitored the galactic Luminous Blue Variable HD 160529 and obtained an extensive high-resolution data set that covers the years 1991 to 2002. During this period, the star evolved from an extended photometric…

Luminous compact blue galaxies (LCBGs) are a diverse class of galaxies characterized by high luminosities, blue colors, and high surface brightnesses. Residing at the high luminosity, high mass end of the blue sequence, LCBGs sit at the…

Several properties of massive stars with large effects of rotation and radiation are studied. We show that there are 2 roots for the equation giving the rotational velocities at break-up: 1) The usual solution, which is shown to apply when…

Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) stars are evolved massive objects, previous to core-collapse supernova. LBVs are characterized by photometric and spectroscopic variability, produced by strong and dense winds, mass-loss events and very intense…

We present observations of the massive transitional star W243 in Westerlund 1. We find an apparent spectral type of early-mid A from our data, in contrast to an earlier classification of B2I, made from data obtained in 1981. The concurrent…

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…

Aims. Eta Car's ultra-violet, optical, and X-ray light curves and its spectrum suggest a physical change in its stellar wind over the last decade. It was proposed that the mass-loss rate decreased by a factor of about 2 in the last 15…

We have determined the location of the line-opacity modified Eddington limit for stars in the LMC using the most recent atmosphere models combined with a precise mapping to the HR Diagram through up-to-date stellar evolution calculations.…

We use contemporary evolutionary models for Very Massive Stars (VMS) to assess whether the Eddington limit constrains the upper stellar mass limit. We also consider the interplay between mass and age for the wind properties and spectral…