We present preliminary results of seismic modeling of β Cephei-type stars in NGC 6910 based on simultaneous photometric and spectroscopic observations carried out in 2013 in Białków (photometry) and Apache Point (spectroscopy) observatories.

Measurements of secular period change probe real-time stellar evolution of classical Cepheids making these measurements powerful constraints for stellar evolution models, especially when coupled with interferometric measurements. In this work, we present stellar evolution models and measured rates of period change for two Galactic Cepheids: Polaris and l Carinae, both important Cepheids for anchoring the Cepheid Leavitt law (period-luminosity relation). The combination of previously-measured parallaxes, interferometric angular diameters and rates of period change allows for predictions of Cepheid mass loss and stellar mass. Using the stellar evolution models, We find that l Car has a mass of about 9 M⊙ consistent with stellar pulsation models, but is not undergoing enhanced stellar mass loss. Conversely, the rate of period change for Polaris requires including enhanced mass-loss rates. We discuss what these different results imply for Cepheid evolution and the mass-loss mechanism on the Cepheid instability strip.

We present an influence of mass loss, element diffusion and convective overshooting on instability areas of SPBsg stars with masses of 13 - 18 M⊙. Evolutionary phases before and after helium core ignition are considered. We discuss how these effects affect the structure of the blue loops and hence a coverage of instability areas.

Weak line emission originating in the photosphere is well known from O stars and widely used for luminosity classification. The physical origin of the line emission are NLTE effects, most often optical pumping by far-UV lines. Analogous lines in B stars of lower luminosity are identified in radially pulsating β Cephei stars. Their diagnostic value is shown for radially pulsating stars, as these lines probe a much larger range of the photosphere than absorption lines, and can be traced to regions where the pulsation amplitude is much lower than seen in the absorption lines.

Stability boundaries of radial pulsations in massive stars are compared with positions of variable and non-variable blue-supergiants in the spectroscopic HR (sHR) diagram (Langer & Kudritzki 2014), whose vertical axis is 4 log Teff - log g(= log L/M). Observational data indicate that variables tend to have higher L/M than non-variables in agreement with the theoretical prediction. However, many variable blue-supergiants are found to have values of L/M below the theoretical stability boundary; i.e., surface gravities seem to be too high by around 0.2-0.3 dex.

We perform mode identification for the frequency peaks detected in the light variation of HD 21071 including the effects of rotation via the traditional approximation. We find the angular numbers (ℓ, m) for all observed frequencies and limit the range of the rotational velocity. In the next step, we make an attempt towards seismic modelling of the star in order to constrain its global parameters.

We have been spectroscopically monitoring a number of blue supergiants, focusing on several strategic photospheric and wind lines. Our aim is to detect line profile variability, and to determine its origin. Here, we present preliminary results for ρ Leo and ε Ori. We conduct an asteroseismic analysis of Hei λ6678. We find in each star multiple periods raging from hours to several days. In addition, we observe strong, night to night variability in Hα.

It has been proposed that the variability seen in absorption lines of the O6Ief star λ Cep is periodical and due to non-radial pulsations (NRP). We have obtained new spectra during six campaigns lasting between five and nine nights. In some datasets we find recurrent spectral variations which move redward in the absorption line profile, consistent with perturbations on the stellar surface of a rotating star. However the periods found are not stable between datasets, at odds with the NRP hypothesis. Moreover, even when no redward trend is found in a full dataset of an observing campaign, it can be present in a subset, suggesting that the phenomenon is short-lived, of the order of a few days, and possibly linked to transient magnetic loops.

15 Canis Majoris is a quite massive (M ~ 14 M⊙) main sequence pulsator of the β Cephei type. Recent photometric (Handler 2014) and spectroscopic (Saesen & Briquet, priv. comm.) observations confirm four pulsational frequencies and indicate possible additional modes. We calculated models fitting two frequencies identified as radial and dipole modes. Our analysis indicates rather effective overshooting from the convective core as well as a strong dependence of the minimal required overshooting parameter (αov,min) on the metallicity, Z (αov,min ~ -2.5 Z).

When incorporating the non-adiabatic f-parameter (Daszynśka-Daszkiewicz & Walczak 2009), defined as the ratio of the bolometric flux changes to the radial displacement, significant differences between the opacity tables were obtained. The comparison of the models derived with different codes is also interesting. We used two evolutionary codes: Warsaw-New Jersey (Pamyatnykh et al.1998) and MESA (Paxton et al.2011) and some systematic differences were found.

Since the construction in the late nineties of modern facilities such as the VLTI or CHARA, interferometry became a key technique to probe massive stars and their often-complex circumstellar environments. Over the last decade, the development of a new generation of beam combiners for these facilities enabled major breakthroughs in the understanding of the formation and evolution of massive stars. In this short review, we will present few of these advances concerning young stellar objects, binarity, mass loss, and stellar surfaces.

The basic concepts of long-baseline optical interferometery are presented herein.

Achernar is a key target to investigate high stellar rotation and the Be phenonemon. It is also the hottest star for which detailed photospheric information is available. Here we report our results to determine the photospheric parameters of Achernar and evaluate how the emission of a Viscous Decretion Disk (VDD) around it would be observable. The analysis is based on interferometric data (PIONIER and AMBER at ESO-VLTI), complemented by spectroscopy and polarimetry for the circumstellar emission. For the first time fundamental parameters of a Be photosphere were determined. The presence of a residual disk at the quiescent phase and some characteristics of the new formed disk (2013 activity) are also discussed. This is rare opportunity to precisely determine the stellar brightness distribution and evaluate the evolution of a just formed Be disk.

Shaped by strong mass loss, rapid rotation, and/or the presence of a close companion, the circumstellar environment around the most massive stars is complex and anything but spherical. Here we provide a brief overview of the high spatial resolution observations of Eta Carinae performed with the Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI). Special emphasis is given to discuss VLTI/AMBER and VLTI/VINCI observations, which directly resolve spatial scales comparable to those where mass loss originates. Studying scales as small as a few milli-arcseconds allows us to investigate kinematical effects of rotation and binarity in more detail than ever before.

Massive evolved stars contribute to the chemical enrichment of the Galaxy. When they die as supernova but also through their mass loss during the several thousands of years of their red supergiant (RSG) phase. Unfortunately the mass loss mechanism remains poorly understood. Detailed study of the CSE and photosphere of nearby RSGs is required to constrain this scenario.

Betelgeuse is the closest RSG (197 pc) and therefore has a large apparent diameter (~ 42 mas) which makes it a very interesting target. For several years, our team has lead a multi-wavelength and multi-scale observing program to characterize its mass loss. We will review here our recent results in near-infrared interferometry.

We present near-infrared spectro-interferometric studies of red supergiant (RSG) stars using the VLTI/AMBER instrument, which are compared to previously obtained similar observations of AGB stars. Our observations indicate spatially extended atmospheric molecular layers of water vapor and CO, similar as previously observed for Mira stars. Data of VY~CMa indicate that the molecular layers are asymmetric, possibly clumpy. Thanks to the spectro-interferometric capabilities of the VLTI/AMBER instrument, we can isolate continuum bandpasses, estimate fundamental parameters of our sources, locate them in the HR diagram, and compare their positions to recent evolutionary tracks. For the example of VY CMa, this puts it close to evolutionary tracks of initial mass 25-32 M⊙. Comparisons of our data to hydrostatic model atmospheres, 3d simulations of convection, and 1d dynamic model atmospheres based on self-excited pulsation models indicate that none of these models can presently explain the observed atmospheric extensions for RSGs. The mechanism that levitates the atmospheres of red supergiant is thus a currently unsolved problem.

I report on the recent discovery of modulation in the radial velocity curves in four classical Cepheids. This discovery may enable significant improvements in the accuracy of Baade-Wesselink distances by revealing a not previously considered systematic source of uncertainty.

The surface brightness colors (SBC) relation is a very important tool to derive the distance of extragalactic eclipsing binaries. However, for early-type stars, this SBC relation is critically affected by the stellar environment (wind, circumstellar disk, etc...) and/or by the fast rotation. We calculated 6 models based on the code of Domiciano de Souza et al. (2012) considering different inclinations and rotational velocities. Using these results, we quantify for the first time the impact of the rotation on the SBC relation.

The research of stars with the B[e] phenomenon is still in its infancy, with several unanswered questions. Physically realistic models that treat the formation and evolution of their complex circumstellar environments are rare. The code HDUST (developed by A. C. Carciofi and J. Bjorkman) is one of the few existing codes that provides a self-consistent treatment of the radiative transfer in a gaseous and dusty circumstellar environment seen around B[e] supergiant stars. In this work we used the HDUST code to study the circumstellar medium of the binary system GG Car, where the primary component is probably an evolved B[e] supergiant. This system also presents a disk (probably circumbinary), which is responsible for the molecular and dusty signatures seen in GG Car spectra. We obtained VLTI/MIDI data on GG~Car at eight baselines, which allowed to spatially resolve the gaseous and dusty circumstellar environment. From the interferometric visibilities and SED modeling with HDUST, we confirm the presence of a compact ring, where the hot dust lies. We also show that large grains can reproduce the lack of structure in the SED and visibilities across the silicate band. We conclude the dust condensation site is much closer to the star than previously thought. This result provides stringent constraints on future theories of grain formation and growth around hot stars.

We are observing a sample of 10 O-type stars and 60 B-type stars to determine angular diameters using the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CHARA) Array, the foremost optical long baseline interferometer in the world. Our goal is to establish accurate stellar parameters to test modern theories of stellar evolution that include rotation. We will combine our stellar angular diameter measurements with flux and line measurements from spectroscopy, projected rotational velocities, and distances to determine radius, effective temperature, luminosity, equatorial rotational velocity, and evolutionary mass. Knowing these properties will allow us to place the stars in a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram and obtain estimates for the age and evolutionary state.

VLTI/AMBER and VLTI/PIONIER observations of the LBV HR Car show an interferometric signature that could not possibly be explained by an extended wind, more or less symmetrically distributed around a single object. Instead, observations both in the Brγ line and the H-band continuum are best explained by two point sources (or alternatively one point source and one slightly extended source) at about 2 mas separation and a contrast ratio of about 1:5. These observations establish that HR Car is a binary, but further interpretation will only be possible with future observations to constrain the orbit. Under the assumption that the current separation is close to the maximum one, the orbital period can be estimated to be of the order of 5 years, similar as in the η Car system. This would make HR Car the second such LBV binary.