Related papers: The connection with B[e] stars
About a quarter of all post-asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are hydrogen-deficient. Stellar evolutionary models explain the carbon-dominated H-deficient stars by a (very) late thermal pulse scenario where the hydrogen-rich envelope is…
The observed SEDs of a sample of 60 OH/IR stars are fitted using a radiative transfer model of a dusty envelope. Among the whole sample, 21 stars have reliable phase-lag distances while the others have less accurate distances. L*-P,Mlr-P…
Observations of hot stars belonging to the young cluster SMC-NGC330 and its surrounding region were obtained with the VLT-GIRAFFE facilities in MEDUSA mode. We investigated the B and Be star properties and proportions in this environment of…
In the context of the standard model of particle physics, there is a definite upper limit to the density of stable compact stars. However, if a more fundamental level of elementary particles exists, in the form of preons, stability may be…
(Abridged version) We present the first detailed imaging polarization observations of six SMC and six LMC clusters, known to have large populations of B-type stars which exhibit excess H-alpha emission, to constrain the evolutionary status…
The abundances of the {\it rare} light elements, Li, Be, and B, provide clues about stellar structure and evolution, about Galactic evolution and about their nucleosynthesis, including production during the Big Bang. The abundances of the…
We investigate Galactic bulge planetary nebulae without emission-line central stars for which peculiar infrared spectra have been obtained with the Spitzer Space Telescope, including the simultaneous signs of oxygen and carbon based dust.…
Recent detailed simulations of Galactic Chemical Evolution have shown that the heavy elements, in particular [Fe/H], are expected to exhibit a weak, or absent, correlation with stellar ages in the early Galaxy due to the lack of efficient…
We present the results of optical and near-IR spectroscopic and near-IR photometric observations of the emission-line stars Hen3-298 and Hen3-303. Strong emission in the H-alpha line is found in both objects. The presence of Fe II and [O I]…
Previous studies have observed significant photometric differences between non-emission B-type and classical Be stars, however the precise mechanism responsible for these differences is unclear. This study combines the Bright Star Catalogue…
Multiplicity among massive stars represents a major uncertainty in stellar evolution theory, because the extra physical processes that it introduces significantly impacts each star's structure. While multiplicity of O-type stars is fairly…
We present high spectral-resolution optical spectra of 49 Herbig Ae/Be stars in a search for the [O I] 6300.2 A line. The vast majority of the stars in our sample show narrow (FWHM < 100 km/s) emission lines, centered on the stellar radial…
(abridged) As the favoured progenitors of long-duration gamma-ray bursts, massive stars may represent our best signposts of individual objects in the early Universe, but special conditions seem required to make these bursters, which might…
Old starburst galaxies are deficient in O stars, and hence do not exhibit strong line emission in the optical regime. However, there remain many B stars, which are expected to heat dust grains and generate strong continuum emission in the…
We present NIR and MIR observations of eight embedded young stellar groups around Herbig Ae/Be stars (HAEBEs) using archived Spitzer IRAC data and 2MASS data. These young stellar groups are nearby ($\leq$ 1 kpc) and still embedded within…
Early Herbig Be (HBe) stars are massive, young stars accreting through the Boundary Layer mechanism. However, given the rapid ($<$ 2 Myr) evolution of early Herbig stars to the main-sequence phase, studying the evolution of the…
B[e] supergiants are known to possess outflowing cool disks but also some unclassified B[e] stars show clear indications for the presence of a neutral disk. We derive constraints on the disk mass loss rates, temperature distributions and…
Many galactic B[e] stars suffer from improper distance determinations, which make it difficult to distinguish between a pre- and post-main sequence evolutionary phase on the basis of luminosity arguments. In addition, these stars have…
Be stars, which are characterised by intermittent emission in their hydrogen lines, are known to be fast rotators. This fast rotation is a requirement for the formation of a Keplerian disk, which in turn gives rise to the emission. However,…
The spectra of two early B-type supergiant stars in the Sculptor spiral galaxy NGC 300 are analysed by means of non-LTE line blanketed unified model atmospheres, aimed at determining their chemical composition and the fundamental stellar…