Publication Abstracts

Stothers and Chin 1994

Stothers, R.B., and C.-W. Chin, 1994: Luminous blue variables at quiescence: The zone of avoidance in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Astrophys. J., 426, L43-L46, doi:10.1086/187335.

Two phases of dynamical instability are theoretically predicted to exist during the evolution of supergiants of normal metallicity that are initially more massive than ∼60 M. One phase occurs briefly in the yellow or red region of the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram for stars in the early stages of core helium burning, and the other phase occurs for a longer time in the blue or blue-white regions for stars exhausting their core helium. Probably only the second phase exists in the case of supergiants with initial masses between ∼60 M$ssol$ and ∼30 M$ssol$ or with low metallicities. The cause of instability is the partial ionization of hydrogen and helium in a quasi-isolated outer region of the stellar envelope, above the layer where the iron opacity attains a large local maximum. Predicted luminosities, effective temperatures, ejected nebular masses, remnant masses, eruption recurrence times, and lifetimes, though very approximate, are generally cinsostent with available observational data for the important class of unstable supergiants known as luminous blue variables.

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BibTeX Citation

@article{st05700m,
  author={Stothers, R. B. and Chin, C.-W.},
  title={Luminous blue variables at quiescence: The zone of avoidance in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram},
  year={1994},
  journal={Astrophysical Journal},
  volume={426},
  pages={L43--L46},
  doi={10.1086/187335},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - JOUR
ID  - st05700m
AU  - Stothers, R. B.
AU  - Chin, C.-W.
PY  - 1994
TI  - Luminous blue variables at quiescence: The zone of avoidance in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram
JA  - Astrophys. J.
JO  - Astrophysical Journal
VL  - 426
SP  - L43
EP  - L46
DO  - 10.1086/187335
ER  -

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