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TESS Photometric Variability of Luminous Blue Variable Stars

A TESS space-photometry study of 37 Luminous Blue Variables that characterizes each light curve by its Fourier characteristic frequencies and red-noise amplitude and tests these against mass loss (H-alpha), color, and luminosity. Finding no correlation between the Fourier and stellar parameters, it argues LBV short-term variability shows no systematic trend and may be an extension of the alpha Cygni supergiant variables rather than a distinct class.

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2501.00240

Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) are evolved, very massive, unstable stars sitting near the Humphreys-Davidson luminosity limit, whose variability ranges from day-to-decade fluctuations to rare giant e…