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Luminous blue variables (LBVs) are massive evolved stars that show unpredictable and sometimes dramatic variations in both their spectra and brightness. They are also known as S Doradus variables after S Doradus, one of the brightest stars of the Large Magellanic Cloud. They are extraordinarily rare with just 20 objects listed in the General Catalogue of Variable Stars as SDor,[1] and a number of these are no longer considered to be LBVs.

Discovery and history
P Cygni profile of a spectral line

The LBV stars P Cygni and η Carinae have been known as unusual variables since the 17th century, but their true nature was not fully understood until much more recently.

In 1922 John Charles Duncan published the first three variable stars ever detected in an external galaxy, variables 1, 2, and 3, in the Triangulum Galaxy (M33). These were followed up by Edwin Hubble with three more in 1926: A, B, and C in M33. Then in 1929 Hubble added a list of variables detected in M31. Of these, Var A, Var B, Var C, and Var 2 in M33 and Var 19 in M31 were followed up with a detailed study by Hubble and Allan Sandage in 1953. Var 1 in M33 was excluded as being too faint and Var 3 had already been classified as a Cepheid variable. At the time they were simply described as irregular variables, although remarkable for being the brightest stars in those galaxies.[2] The original Hubble Sandage paper contains a footnote that S Doradus might be the same type of star, but expressed strong reservations, so the link would have to wait several decades to be confirmed.

Later papers referred to these five stars as Hubble–Sandage variables. In the 1970s, Var 83 in M33 and AE Andromedae, AF Andromedae (=Var 19), Var 15, and Var A-1 in M31 were added to the list and described by several authors as "luminous blue variables", although it was not considered a formal name at the time. The spectra were found to contain lines with P Cygni profiles and were compared to η Carinae.[3] In 1978, Roberta M. Humphreys published a study of eight variables in M31 and M33 (excluding Var A) and referred to them as luminous blue variables, as well as making the link to the S Doradus class of variable stars.[4] In 1984 in a presentation at the IAU symposium, Peter Conti formally grouped the S Doradus variables, Hubble–Sandage variables, η Carinae, P Cygni, and other similar stars together under the term "luminous blue variables" and shortened it to LBV. He also clearly separated them from those other luminous blue stars, the Wolf–Rayet stars.[5]

Variable star types are usually named after the first member discovered to be variable, for example δ Sct variables named after the star δ Sct. The first luminous blue variable to be identified as a variable star was P Cygni, and these stars have been referred to as P Cygni type variables. The General Catalogue of Variable Stars decided there was a possibility of confusion with P Cygni profiles, which also occur in other types of stars, and chose the acronym SDOR for "variables of the S Doradus type".[6] The term "S Doradus variable" was used to describe P Cygni, S Doradus, η Carinae, and the Hubble-Sandage variables as a group in 1974.[7]
Physical properties
Upper portion of H-R Diagram showing the location of the S Doradus instability strip and the location of LBV outbursts. Main sequence is the thin sloping line on the lower left.

LBVs are massive unstable supergiant (or hypergiant) stars that show a variety of spectroscopic and photometric variation, most obviously periodic outbursts and occasional much larger eruptions.

In their "quiescent" state they are typically B-type stars, occasionally slightly hotter, with unusual emission lines. They are found in a region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram known as the S Doradus instability strip, where the least luminous have a temperature around 10,000 K and a luminosity about 250,000 times the Sun, whereas the most luminous have a temperature around 25,000 K and a luminosity over a million times the Sun, making them some of the most luminous of all stars.

During a normal outburst the temperature decreases to around 8,500 K for all stars, slightly hotter than the yellow hypergiants. The bolometric luminosity usually remains constant, which means that visual brightness increases somewhat by a magnitude or two. S Doradus typifies this behaviour. A few examples have been found where luminosity appears to change during an outburst, but the properties of these unusual stars are difficult to determine accurately. For example, AG Carinae may decrease in luminosity by around 30% during outbursts; and AFGL 2298 has been observed to dramatically increase its luminosity during an outburst although it isn't clear if that should be classified as a modest giant eruption.[8] S Doradus typifies this behaviour, which has been referred to as strong-active cycle, and it is regarded as a key criterion for identifying luminous blue variables. Two distinct periodicities are seen, either variations taking longer than 20 years, or less than 10 years. In some cases, the variations are much smaller, less than half a magnitude, with only small temperature reductions. These are referred to as weak-active cycles and always occur on timescales of less than 10 years.[9]

Some LBVs have been observed to undergo giant eruptions with dramatically increased mass loss and luminosity, so violent that several were initially catalogued as supernovae. The outbursts mean there are usually nebulae around such stars; η Carinae is the best-studied and most luminous known example, but may not be typical.[10] It is generally assumed that all luminous blue variables undergo one or more of these large eruptions, but they have only been observed in two or three well-studied stars and possibly a handful of supernova imposters. The two clear examples in our galaxy, P Cygni and η Carinae, and the possible example in the Small Magellanic Cloud, HD 5980A, have not shown strong-cycle variations. It is still possible that the two types of variability occur in different groups of stars.[11] 3-D simulations have shown that these outbursts may be caused by variations in helium opacity.[12]

Many luminous blue variables also show small amplitude variability with periods less than a year, which appear typical of Alpha Cygni variables,[8] and stochastic (i.e. totally random) variations.[9]

Luminous blue variables are by definition more luminous than most stars and also more massive, but within a very wide range. The most luminous are more than a million L☉ and have masses approaching, possibly exceeding, 100 M☉. The least luminous have luminosities around a quarter of a million L☉ and masses as low as 10 M☉, although they would have been considerably more massive as main-sequence stars. They all have high mass loss rates and show some enhancement of helium and nitrogen.[8]
Evolution
Homunculus Nebula, produced by the Great Outburst of η Carinae

Because of these stars' large mass and high luminosity, their lifetime is very short—only a few million years in total and much less than a million years in the LBV phase.[13] They are rapidly evolving on observable timescales; examples have been detected where stars with Wolf–Rayet spectra (WNL/Ofpe) have developed to show LBV outbursts and a handful of supernovae have been traced to likely LBV progenitors. Recent theoretical research confirms the latter scenario, where luminous blue variable stars are the final evolutionary stage of some massive stars before they explode as supernovae, for at least stars with initial masses between 20 and 25 solar masses.[14] For more-massive stars, computer simulations of their evolution suggest the luminous blue variable phase takes place during the latest phases of core hydrogen burning (LBV with high surface temperature), the hydrogen shell burning phase (LBV with lower surface temperature), and the earliest part of the core helium burning phase (LBV with high surface temperature again) before transitioning to the Wolf–Rayet phase,[15] thus being analogous to the red giant and red supergiant phases of less massive stars.

There appear to be two groups of LBVs, one with luminosities above 630,000 times the Sun and the other with luminosities below 400,000 times the Sun, although this is disputed in more-recent research.[16] Models have been constructed showing that the lower-luminosity group are post-red-supergiants with initial masses of 30–60 times the Sun, whereas the higher-luminosity group are population-II stars with initial masses 60–90 times the Sun that never develop to red supergiants, although they may become yellow hypergiants.[17] Some models suggest that LBVs are a stage in the evolution of very massive stars required for them to shed excess mass,[18] whereas others require that most of the mass is lost at an earlier cool-supergiant stage.[17] Normal outbursts and the stellar winds in the quiescent state are not sufficient for the required mass loss, but LBVs occasionally produce abnormally large outbursts that can be mistaken for a faint supernova and these may shed the necessary mass. Recent models all agree that the LBV stage occurs after the main-sequence stage and before the hydrogen-depleted Wolf–Rayet stage, and that essentially all LBV stars will eventually explode as supernovae. LBVs apparently can explode directly as a supernova, but probably only a small fraction do. If the star does not lose enough mass before the end of the LBV stage, it may undergo a particularly powerful supernova created by pair-instability. The latest models of stellar evolution suggest that some single stars with initial masses around 20 times that of the Sun will explode as LBVs as type II-P, type IIb, or type Ib supernovae,[14] whereas binary stars undergo much-more-complex evolution through envelope stripping leading to less predictable outcomes.[19]
Supernova-like outbursts
Stars similar to η Carinae in nearby galaxies

Luminous blue variable stars can undergo "giant outbursts" with dramatically increased mass loss and luminosity. η Carinae is the prototypical example,[20] with P Cygni showing one or more similar outbursts 300–400 years ago,[21] but dozens have now been catalogued in external galaxies. Many of these were initially classified as supernovae but re-examined because of unusual features.[22] The nature of the outbursts and of the progenitor stars seems to be highly variable,[23] with the outbursts most likely having several different causes. The historical η Carinae and P Cygni outbursts, and several seen more recently in external galaxies, have lasted years or decades whereas some of the supernova imposter events have declined to normal brightness within months. Well-studied examples are:

SN 1954J
SN 1961V
SN 1997bs

Early models of stellar evolution had predicted that although the high-mass stars that produce LBVs would often or always end their lives as supernovae, the supernova explosion would not occur at the LBV stage. Prompted by the progenitor of SN 1987A being a blue supergiant, and most likely an LBV, several subsequent supernovae have been associated with LBV progenitors. The progenitor of SN 2005gl has been shown to be an LBV apparently in outburst only a few years earlier.[24] Progenitors of several other type IIn supernovae have been detected and were likely to have been LBVs:[25]

SN 2009ip
SN 2010jl

Modelling suggests that at near-solar metallicity, stars with an initial mass around 20–25 M☉ will explode as a supernova while in the LBV stage of their lives. They will be post-red-supergiants with luminosities a few hundred thousand times that of the Sun. The supernova is expected to be of type II, most likely type IIb, although possibly type IIn due to episodes of enhanced mass loss that occur as an LBV and in the yellow-hypergiant stage.[26]
List of LBVs
See also: List of most luminous stars

The identification of LBVs requires confirmation of the characteristic spectral and photometric variations, but these stars can be "quiescent" for decades or centuries at which time they are indistinguishable from many other hot luminous stars. A candidate luminous blue variable (cLBV) can be identified relatively quickly on the basis of its spectrum or luminosity, and dozens have been catalogued in the Milky Way during recent surveys.[27]

Recent studies of dense clusters and mass spectrographic analysis of luminous stars have identified dozens of probable LBVs in the Milky Way out of a likely total population of just a few hundred, although few have been observed in enough detail to confirm the characteristic types of variability. In addition the majority of the LBVs in the Magellanic Clouds have been identified, several dozen in M31 and M33, plus a handful in other local group galaxies.[28]
η Carinae, a luminous blue variable as seen from the Chandra X-ray Observatory

Our galaxy:

η Carinae
P Cygni
V4650 Sagittarii (FMM 362 or qF362, in the Quintuplet cluster)
V4998 Sagittarii (LBV3, G0.120 0.048, very close to the Quintuplet cluster)
AG Carinae
HR Carinae
V432 Carinae (Wray 15-751)
V4029 Sagittarii (HD 168607)
V905 Scorpii (HD 160529)
V1672 Aquilae (AFGL 2298)
W1-243 (in Westerlund 1)
V481 Scuti (LBV G24.73+0.69)
GCIRS 34W
MWC 930[29] (= V446 Scuti)
Wray 16-137[30]
WS1 (discovered as WISE Shell 1[31])[32]
MN44[33]
MN48[34]

LMC:

S Doradus
HD 269858 (= R127)
HD 269006 (= R71)
HD 269929 (= R143)
HD 269662 (= R110)
HD 269700 (= R116)[35]
HD 269582 (= MWC 112)
HD 269216[36]

SMC:

HD 5980 (= R14)
HD 6884 (= R40)

M31:

AF Andromedae[37]
AE Andromedae[37]
Var 15[37]
Var A-1[37]
J004526.62+415006.3[38]
J004051.59+403303.0[38]
LAMOST J0037+4016[39]

M33:

Var 2[37] (an extremely hot star showing no variability since 1935 and hardly studied)
Var 83[37]
Var B[37]
Var C[37]
GR 290[40] (Romano's star, an unusually hot LBV[41])

NGC 2403:

V12[42]
V37[42]
V38[42]

NGC 2366 (NGC 2363)

NGC 2363-V1

PHL 293B

Unnamed star that underwent an outburst from 1998-2008 in an unusual supernova-like event, and has now disappeared[43]

A number of cLBVs in the Milky Way are well known because of their extreme luminosity or unusual characteristics, including:

Wray 17-96 (unusual hypergiant in the gap between the two semi-stable LBV regions)
Pistol Star (once thought to be the most luminous star in the galaxy)
LBV 1806-20 (one of the most luminous stars known)
Sanduleak -69° 202 (the star that exploded as SN 1987A)
Cygnus OB2-12 (blue hypergiant and one of the most luminous stars known)
HD 80077 (blue hypergiant)
V1429 Aquilae (with a supergiant companion, very similar to a less luminous η Car)
V4030 Sagittarii (hypergiant surrounded by a nebula identical to the one around Sanduleak -69° 202)
WR 102ka (the Peony star, one of the most luminous stars known, and would be one of the hottest LBVs)
Sher 25 (blue supergiant in NGC 3603 with a bipolar outflow and surrounded by a circumstellar ring)
BD+40°4210 (blue supergiant in the stellar association Cygnus OB2)

Other well-known stars not currently classified as LBVs but may be transitioning into LBVs, have been LBVs relatively recently, or are LBVs in a stable phase include:

Zeta-1 Scorpii (naked-eye hypergiant)
IRC+10420 (yellow hypergiant that has increased its temperature into the LBV range)
V509 Cassiopeiae (= HR 8752, an unusual yellow hypergiant evolving bluewards)
Rho Cassiopeiae (unstable yellow hypergiant suffering periodic outbursts)

See also

Astronomy portal iconStar portal

Hypernova
Hypergiant

References

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Maryeva, Olga (2014). "The half-century history of studies of Romano's star". Baltic Astronomy. 23 (3–4): 248.arXiv:1411.2662. Bibcode:2014BaltA..23..248M. doi:10.1515/astro-2017-0187. S2CID 118947657.
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Stars
Formation

Accretion Molecular cloud Bok globule Young stellar object
Protostar Pre-main-sequence Herbig Ae/Be T Tauri FU Orionis Herbig–Haro object Hayashi track Henyey track

Evolution

Main sequence Red-giant branch Horizontal branch
Red clump Asymptotic giant branch
super-AGB Blue loop Protoplanetary nebula Planetary nebula PG1159 Dredge-up OH/IR Instability strip Luminous blue variable Blue straggler Stellar population Supernova Superluminous supernova / Hypernova

Spectral classification

Early Late Main sequence
O B A F G K M Brown dwarf WR OB Subdwarf
O B Subgiant Giant
Blue Red Yellow Bright giant Supergiant
Blue Red Yellow Hypergiant
Yellow Carbon
S CN CH White dwarf Chemically peculiar
Am Ap/Bp HgMn Helium-weak Barium Extreme helium Lambda Boötis Lead Technetium Be
Shell B[e]

Remnants

White dwarf
Helium planet Black dwarf Neutron
Radio-quiet Pulsar
Binary X-ray Magnetar Stellar black hole X-ray binary
Burster

Hypothetical

Blue dwarf Green Black dwarf Exotic
Boson Electroweak Strange Preon Planck Dark Dark-energy Quark Q Black Gravastar Frozen Quasi-star Thorne–Żytkow object Iron Blitzar

Stellar nucleosynthesis

Deuterium burning Lithium burning Proton–proton chain CNO cycle Helium flash Triple-alpha process Alpha process Carbon burning Neon burning Oxygen burning Silicon burning S-process R-process Fusor Nova
Symbiotic Remnant Luminous red nova

Structure

Core Convection zone
Microturbulence Oscillations Radiation zone Atmosphere
Photosphere Starspot Chromosphere Stellar corona Stellar wind
Bubble Bipolar outflow Accretion disk Asteroseismology
Helioseismology Eddington luminosity Kelvin–Helmholtz mechanism

Properties

Designation Dynamics Effective temperature Luminosity Kinematics Magnetic field Absolute magnitude Mass Metallicity Rotation Starlight Variable Photometric system Color index Hertzsprung–Russell diagram Color–color diagram

Star systems

Binary
Contact Common envelope Eclipsing Symbiotic Multiple Cluster
Open Globular Super Planetary system

Earth-centric
observations

Sun
Solar System Sunlight Pole star Circumpolar Constellation Asterism Magnitude
Apparent Extinction Photographic Radial velocity Proper motion Parallax Photometric-standard

Lists

Proper names
Arabic Chinese Extremes Most massive Highest temperature Lowest temperature Largest volume Smallest volume Brightest
Historical Most luminous Nearest
Nearest bright With exoplanets Brown dwarfs White dwarfs Milky Way novae Supernovae
Candidates Remnants Planetary nebulae Timeline of stellar astronomy

Related articles

Substellar object
Brown dwarf Sub-brown dwarf Planet Galactic year Galaxy Guest Gravity Intergalactic Planet-hosting stars Tidal disruption event

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Variable stars
Pulsating
Cepheids and
cepheid-like

Type I (Classical cepheids, Delta Scuti) Type II (BL Herculis, W Virginis, RV Tauri) RR Lyrae Rapidly oscillating Ap SX Phoenicis

Blue-white with
early spectra

Alpha Cygni Beta Cephei Slowly pulsating B-type PV Telescopii Blue large-amplitude pulsator

Long-period

Mira Semiregular Slow irregular

Other

Gamma Doradus Solar-like oscillations White dwarf

Eruptive
Protostar and PMS

Herbig Ae/Be Orion
FU Orionis T Tauri

Giants and
supergiants

Luminous blue variable R Coronae Borealis (DY Persei) Yellow hypergiant

Eruptive binary

Double periodic FS Canis Majoris RS Canum Venaticorum

Other

Flare Gamma Cassiopeiae Lambda Eridani Wolf–Rayet

Cataclysmic

AM Canum Venaticorum Dwarf nova Luminous red nova Nova Polar Intermediate polar Supernova
Hypernova SW Sextantis Symbiotic
Symbiotic nova Z Andromedae

Rotating
Non-spherical

Rotating ellipsoidal

Stellar spots

BY Draconis FK Comae Berenices

Magnetic fields

Alpha² Canum Venaticorum Pulsar SX Arietis

Eclipsing

Algol Beta Lyrae Planetary transit W Ursae Majoris

He1523a.jpg Star portal * List

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Supernovae
Classes

Type Ia Type Ib and Ic Type II (IIP, IIL, IIn, and IIb) Hypernova Superluminous Pair-instability


Supernova&galaxia.png
G299-Remnants-SuperNova-Type1a-20150218.jpg
Physics of

Calcium-rich Carbon detonation Foe Near-Earth Phillips relationship Nucleosynthesis
P-process R-process Neutrinos

Related

Imposter
pulsational pair-instability Failed Gamma-ray burst Kilonova Luminous red nova Nova Pulsar kick Quark-nova Symbiotic nova

Progenitors

Hypergiant
yellow Luminous blue variable Supergiant
blue red yellow White dwarf
related links Wolf–Rayet star

Remnants

Supernova remnant
Pulsar wind nebula Neutron star
pulsar magnetar related links Stellar black hole
related links Compact star
quark star exotic star Zombie star Local Bubble Superbubble
Orion–Eridanus

Discovery

Guest star History of supernova observation Timeline of white dwarfs, neutron stars, and supernovae

Lists

Candidates Notable Massive stars Most distant Remnants In fiction

Notable

Barnard's Loop Cassiopeia A Crab
Crab Nebula iPTF14hls Tycho's Kepler's SN 1987A SN 185 SN 1006 SN 2003fg Remnant G1.9+0.3 SN 2007bi SN 2011fe SN 2014J SN Refsdal Vela Remnant

Research

ASAS-SN Calán/Tololo Survey High-Z Supernova Search Team Katzman Automatic Imaging Telescope Monte Agliale Supernovae and Asteroid Survey Nearby Supernova Factory Sloan Supernova Survey Supernova/Acceleration Probe Supernova Cosmology Project SuperNova Early Warning System Supernova Legacy Survey Texas Supernova Search

Physics Encyclopedia

World

Index

Hellenica World - Scientific Library

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