| Abstract: Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are massive, unstable stars known for
their complex brightness
oscillations and variability across multiple timescales, which are
driven primarily by internal
stellar pulsations and episodes of significant mass loss. They
represent a short-lived, unstable
phase in the evolution of massive stars, resulting in the creation of a
complex circumstellar medium
(CSM) seen many interacting supernova. We present here a multi-epoch
spectroscopic study of the LBV
AT2016blu, which provides a compelling case study of an LBV undergoing
quasi-periodic brightening
every 113d. Strong, persistent Balmer emission lines including
Hα, Hβ, Hγ, Hδ, Hϵ are seen,
alongside an aperiodic emergence of C I, O III and S II lines, all with
varying intensities. In quiescence, the
Balmer (notably Hα ) line profiles show a varying structure,
possibly suggestive of a pulsating stellar
atmosphere. We use our spectral studies to characterize the progenitors
and its environment's properties, and
investigate the possibility that AT2016blu may be a binary system.
Keywords: LBVs, Supernova Imposter, AT2016blu |
