S-type stars are late-type giants enhanced with s-process elements originating either from nucleosynthesis during the Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) or from a pollution by a binary companion. The former are called intrinsic S stars, and the latter extrinsic S stars. The atmospheric parameters of S stars are more numerous than those of M-type giants (C/O ratio and s-process abundances affect the thermal structure and spectral synthesis), and hence they are more difficult to derive. Nevertheless, high-resolution spectroscopic data of S stars combined with the TGAS (Tycho-Gaia Astrometric solution) parallaxes were used to derive effective temperatures, surface gravities, and luminosities. These parameters allow to locate the intrinsic and extrinsic S stars in the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram.

The evolution of massive stars encompasses short-lived transition phases in which mass-loss is more enhanced and usually eruptive. A complex environment, combining atomic, molecular and dust regions, is formed around these stars. In particular, the circumstellar environment of B[e] Supergiants is not well understood. To address that, we have initiated a campaign to investigate their environments for a sample of Galactic and Magellanic Cloud sources. Using high-resolution optical and near-infrared spectra (MPG-ESO/FEROS, GEMINI/Phoenix and VLT/CRIRES, respectively), we examine a set of emission features ([OI], [CaII], CO bandheads) to trace the physical conditions and kinematics in their formation regions. We find that the B[e] Supergiants are surrounded by a series of rings of different temperatures and densities, a probable result of previous mass-loss events. In many cases the CO forms very close to the star, while we notice also an alternate mixing of densities and temperatures (which give rise to the different emission features) along the equatorial plane.

The WR stellar population can be distinguished, at least partially, from other stellar populations by broad-band IR colour selection. We present the use of a machine learning classifier to quantitatively improve the selection of Galactic Wolf-Rayet (WR) candidates. These methods are used to separate the other stellar populations which have similar IR colours. We show the results of the classifications obtained by using the 2MASS J, H and K photometric bands, and the Spitzer/IRAC bands at 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 and 8.0μm. The k-Nearest Neighbour method has been used to select Galactic WR candidates for observational follow-up. A few candidates have been spectroscopically observed. Preliminary observations suggest that a detection rate of 50% can easily be achieved.

Our recent studies based on a large sample of K giants with Hipparcos parallaxes and spectroscopic analysis resulted more than a dozen new Li-rich K giants including few super Li-rich ones. Most of the Li-rich K giants including the new ones appear to occur at the luminosity bump in the HR diagram. However, one can’t rule out the possibility of overlap with the clump region where core He-burning K giants reside post He-flash at the tip of RGB. It is important to distinguish field K giants of clump from the bump region in the HR diagram to understand clues for Li production in K giants. In this poster, we explore whether GAIA parallaxes improve to disentangle clump from bump region, more precisely.

The role of episodic mass loss in evolved massive stars is one of the outstanding questions in stellar evolution theory. Integral field spectroscopy of nebulae around massive stars provide information on their recent mass-loss history. η Car is one of the most massive evolved stars and is surrounded by a complex circumstellar environment. We have conducted a three-dimensional morpho-kinematic analysis of η Car’s ejecta outside its famous Homunculus nebula. SHAPE modelling of VLT MUSE data establish unequivocally the spatial cohesion of the outer ejecta and the correlation of ejecta with the soft X-ray emission.

The Gaia-ESO survey (GES; Gilmore et al. (2012), Randich et al. (2013)) is a spectroscopic survey complementing the Gaia mission to bring accurate radial velocities and chemical abundances for 105 stars. Merle et al. (submitted to A&A; see also this volume) developped a tool (DOE) to detect multiple peaks in the cross-correlation functions (CCFs) of GES spectra. Using the GIRAFFE HR10 and HR21 settings, we were able to compare the efficiency of our SB detection tool depending on the wavelength range and resolution. We show that a careful design of CCF masks can improve the detection rate in the HR21 settings. HR21 spectra are similar to the ones produced by the RVS spectrograph of the Gaia mission, though the lower resolution of RVS spectra may result in a lower detection efficiency than the case of HR21. Analysis of RVS spectra in the context of spectroscopic binaries can take advantage of the lessons learnt from the GES to maximize the detection rate.

We present the first successful simulations of neutrino-driven supernova explosions in three dimensions (3D) using the Vertex-Prometheus code including sophisticated energy-dependent neutrino transport. The simulated models of 9.6 and 20 solar-mass iron-core stars demonstrate that successful explosions can be obtained in self-consistent 3D simulations, where previous models have failed. New insights into the supernova mechanism can be gained from these explosions. The first 3D model (Melson et al. 2015a) explodes at the same time but more energetically than its axially symmetric (2D) counterpart. Turbulent energy cascading reduces the kinetic energy dissipation in the cooling layer and therefore suppresses neutrino cooling. The consequent inward shift of the gain radius increases the gain layer mass, whose recombination energy provides the surplus for the explosion energy.

The second explosion (Melson et al. 2015b) is obtained through a moderate reduction of the neutral-current neutrino opacity motivated by strange-quark contributions to the nucleon spin. A corresponding reference model without these corrections failed, which demonstrates how close current 3D models are to explosion. The strangeness adjustment is meant as a prototype for remaining neutrino opacity uncertainties.

S stars are s-process and C-enriched (0.5<C/O<1) red giants. Their abundances can be determined thanks to a new grid of MARCS model atmospheres covering their whole parameter range. Detailed abundance determinations in intrinsic S stars (TP-AGB) and extrinsic S stars (binary masqueraders) can provide strong constraints on the s-process nucleosynthesis: in particular, the s-process temperature can be determined using zirconium and niobium abundances, independently of stellar evolution models. Synthetic spectra of dwarf S stars have been computed and will be sought for in spectroscopic survey data, constraining their luminosity thanks to Gaia parallaxes.

We carried out a pivot experiment to select distant luminous late-type stars on the basis on their 2MASS and GLIMPSE photometry. Low-resolution infrared spectra enabled us to measure the equivalent widths (EWs) of their CO band-heads at 2.293 μm, and to confirm an extraordinarily high detection rate of red supergiants (RSGs), i.e. 61% (Messineo et al. (2016)).

The extended observational program for study of cataclysmic variables is realized in Sternberg Astronomical Institute during the last years. A few telescopes of Crimean Observational Station equipped with a different devices, — UBV photometer and two CCD camera, are used for observations. Among the close binary systems (CBS), cataclysmic variables are the most interesting objects because of the outburst activity and variety of their observational features. They could serve a good laboratory for study of physical processes in CBS. GAIA provides astronomers with a new ample opportunity for investigation of cataclysmic variables. Though the relative faintness of detected objects it is still possible to carry out a high accuracy ground-based observations with our equipment. Obtained ground-based data permit us to confirm classification of detected CV-candidates, to determine the physical characteristics with a sample of new cods and improve the current understanding of their nature.

We discuss light-curve and spectral properties of ultra-stripped core-collapse supernovae. Ultra-stripped supernovae are supernovae with ejecta masses of only ~0.1M⊙ whose progenitors lose their envelopes due to binary interactions with their compact companion stars. We follow the evolution of an ultra-stripped supernova progenitor until core collapse and perform explosive nucleosynthesis calculations. We then synthesize light curves and spectra of ultra-stripped supernovae based on the nucleosynthesis results. We show that ultra-stripped supernovae synthesize ~0.01M⊙ of the radioactive 56Ni, and their typical peak luminosity is around 1042 erg s−1 or −16 mag. Their typical rise time is 5 − 10 days. By comparing synthesized and observed spectra, we find that SN 2005ek and some of so-called calcium-rich gap transients like PTF10iuv may be related to ultra-stripped supernovae.

The nearby triple star HIP 101955 with strongly inclined orbit still remains. Thus the long-term dynamical stability deserves to be discussed based on the new dynamical state parameters (component masses and kinematic parameters) derived from fitting the accurate three-body model to the radial velocity, the Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (HIAD), and the accumulated speckle and visual data. It is found that the three-body system remains integrated and most likely undergoes Kozai cycles. With the already accumulated high-precision data, the three-body effects cannot always be neglected in the determination of the dynamical state. And it is expected that this will be the general case under the available Gaia data.

An iterative method to determine the self-consistent orbital solutions of single-lined spectroscopic binaries (SB1s) along with compatible physical properties of component stars via a simultaneous fit including both the Hipparcos Intermediate Astrometric Data (HIAD) and radial velocity data is introduced in this work. For the method, a stellar evolutionary model is used to distribute the total mass and luminosity to the primary and the secondary and update the ratio of the semimajor axes of the photocenter to the primary orbits. Once the Gaia Intermediate Astrometric Data (GIAD) are released, the method can be applied to study the Gaia SB1s and give self-consistent orbital solutions and compatible physical properties of component stars.

The objective is to determine the nature of the unseen companion of the single-lined spectroscopic binary, WR 148 (= WN7h+?). The absence of companion lines supports a compact companion (cc) scenario. The lack of hard X-rays favours a non-compact companion scenario. Is WR 148 a commonplace WR+OB binary or a rare WR+cc binary?

The next Galactic supernova is expected to bring great opportunities for the direct detection of gravitational waves, full flavor neutrinos, and multi-wavelength photons. To prepare for appropriate observations of these multi-messenger signals, we use a long-term numerical simulation of the core-collapse supernova and discuss detectability of the signals in different situations. By exploring the sequential multi-messenger signals of a nearby CCSN, we discuss preparations for maximizing successful studies of such an unprecedented stirring event.

Small-JASMINE (hearafter SJ), infrared astrometric satellite, will measure the positions and the proper motions which are located around the Galactic center, by operating at near infrared wave-lengths. SJ will clarify the formation process of the super massive black hole (hearafter SMBH) at the Galactic center. In particular, SJ will determine whether the SMBH was formed by a sequential merging of multiple black holes. The clarification of this formation process of the SMBH will contribute to a better understanding of merging process of satellite galaxies into the Galaxy, which is suggested by the standard galaxy formation scenario. A numerical simulation (Tanikawa and Umemura, 2014) suggests that if the SMBH was formed by the merging process, then the dynamical friction caused by the black holes have influenced the phase space distribution of stars. The phase space distribution measured by SJ will make it possible to determine the occurrences of the merging process.

In 2006, the Of?p star HD191612 became the second O-star where a magnetic field was discovered. It provided a benchmark to understand the Of?p phenomenon as a whole. Ten years later, an X-ray monitoring performed at high-resolution reveals the behaviour of the hottest magnetospheric plasma: it is located at ~ 2R⊙, hot but not extreme (log(T) ~ 7), producing unshifted lines, and displaying a very repetitive variability. A direct comparison with simulations yields an overall good agreement, with only a few further improvements needed.

The middle B to the early F Main Sequence stars have some of the most quiet stellar atmospheres. In this part of the HR diagram we find stars with atmospheres in radiative equilibrium. They lack the convective circulations of the middle F and cooler stars and the massive stellar winds of hotter stars. When stars of different mass evolve off the Main Sequence in this part of the HR Diagram their evolutionary paths do not cross initially. Thus stars with the same effective temperature and surface gravity have the same luminosity and mass. By comparing their elemental abundances, we might be able to identify physical processes which cause any differences in their abundances. Here we begin with stars whose effective temperatures and surface gravities are similar, and which have been analyzed by us using spectra obtained from the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (DAO). Improvements in our knowledge of the energy distributions of stars (for example via GAIA measurements) should lead to improved estimates of stellar effective temperatures and surface gravities.

We examined the O-C diagrams of eclipsing binary systems and selected these exhibiting cyclic shape, either sinusoidal or quasi sinusoidal. Assuming these variations being due to the Light Time Travel effect (LTE), we estimated the parameters of companions with the Monte Carlo method. As a result, we identified nearly two dozen of eclipsing systems that might have companions with a minimum mass larger than that of a neutron star. Their masses fall into the range between 1.7 and 34 solar masses. This sample of triples with high mass companions can be confirmed with the help of observations gathered by Gaia: parallaxes and astrometric measurements.

The Of?p category was introduced more than 40 years ago to gather several Galactic stars with some odd properties. Since 2000, spectropolarimetry, high-resolution spectroscopy, long-term photometry, and X-ray observations have revealed their nature: magnetic oblique rotators - they all have magnetic fields that confine their winds. Several Of?p stars have now been detected in the Magellanic Clouds, likely the prototypes of magnetic massive stars at low metallicity. This contribution will present the most recent photometric, spectroscopic, and spectropolarimetric data, along with the first modeling of these objects.