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Session: Stars, Planets and the Interstellar Medium

Name: Dr. Grigoris Maravelias (National Observatory of Athens & FORTH)
Coauthors: de Wit Stephan (National Observatory of Athens, National & Kapodistrian Univ. of Athens)
Bonanos Alceste (National Observatory of Athens)
Tramper Frank (KU Leuven)
Munoz-Sanchez Gonzalo (National Observatory of Athens, National & Kapodistrian Univ. of Athens)
Christodoulou Evangelia (National Observatory of Athens, National & Kapodistrian Univ. of Athens)
Type: Poster
Title: New B[e] supergiants and candidate Luminous Blue Variables in nearby galaxies from the ASSESS project
Abstract:

Mass loss is one of the key parameters that determine stellar evolution. Despite the progress we have achieved over the last decades we still cannot match the observational derived values with theoretical predictions. Even worse, there are certain phases, such as the B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) and the Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), where significant mass is lost through episodic or outburst activity. This leads to various structures around them that permit dust formation, making these objects bright IR sources. The ASSESS project aims to determine the role of episodic mass, by examining large numbers of cool and hot objects (such as B[e]SGs/LBVs). For this, we initiated a large observing campaign to obtain spectroscopic data for ∼1000 IR selected sources in 27 nearby galaxies. Within this project we successfully identified 6 B[e] supergiants and 5 Luminous Blue Variables of which 5 and 3, respectively, are new discoveries. We used spectroscopic, photometric and light curve information to better constrain the nature of the reported objects. We particularly note the presence of B[e]SGs at metallicity environments as low as 0.14Z⊙.