red supergiant phase tagged posts

AG Carinae (AG Car) – an example of a Luminous Blue Variable (LBV) star. Credit: Judy Schmidt/Hubble Space Telescope.

A new study based on the first Gaia data release (DR1) reveals more accurate measurements of the distance of four canonical luminous blue variables (LBVs) in the Milky Way galaxy. DR1 contains a catalog of over 1 billion stars with precise measurements of their brightness and positions in the sky. These data were obtained by ESA’s Gaia satellite, which is completing the first-ever “galactic census”—the most detailed 3D map of the Milky Way ever made. The release of DR1 offers the scientific community an excellent opportunity to improve knowledge of our stellar environment and to redefine previous calculations.

Combing through the data obtained by Gaia, Nathan Smith of Uni...

The star in its short-lived, unstable, very hot, blue supergiant phase. Credit: CAASTRO/Mats Björklund (Magipics)

Astronomers have managed to peer into the past of a nearby star millions of years before its famous explosion, using a telescope in remote outback Australia at a site free from FM radio interference. Research by an international team including astronomers at the International Centre of Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR) observing the region at the lowest-ever radio frequencies has helped fine-tune our understanding of stellar explosions.

The research paints a picture of the star’s life long before its death in what was the closest and brightest supernova seen from Earth, now known as supernova remnant 1987A, which collapsed spectacularly almost 30 years ago...