The 2006 hot phase of Romano's star (GR 290) in M33

Understanding the nature of the instabilities of LBVs is important to understand the late evolutionary stages of very massive stars. We investigate the long term, S Dor-type variability of the luminous blue variable GR290 (Romano's star) in M33, and its 2006 minimum phase. New spectroscopic and photometric data taken in November and December 2006 were employed in conjunction with already published data on GR290 to derive the physical structure of GR290 in different phases and the time scale of the variability. We find that by the end of 2006, GR 290 had reached the deepest visual minimum so far recorded. Its present spectrum resembles closely that of the Of/WN9 stars, and is the hottest so far recorded in this star (and in any LBV as well), while its visual brightness decreased by about 1.4 mag. This first spectroscopic record of GR290 during a minimum phase confirms that, similarly to AG Car and other LBVs, the star is subject to ample S Dor-type variations, being hotter at minimum, suggesting that the variations take place at constant bolometric luminosity.Comment: 4 figures, 1 table, accepted for publication in A&A Letter

The discovery of the optical/IR counterpart of the 12s transient X-ray pulsar GS 0834-43

We report the discovery of the optical/infra-red counterpart of the 12.3s transient X-ray pulsar GS0834-43. We re-analysed archival ROSAT PSPC observations of GS0834-43, obtaining two new refined positions, about 14" and 18" away from the previously published one, and a new spin period measurement. Within the new error circles we found a relatively faint (V=20.1) early type reddened star (V-R=2.24). The optical spectrum shows a strong Halpha emission line. The IR observations of the field confirm the presence of an IR excess for the Halpha-emitting star (K'=11.4, J-K'=1.94) which is likely surrounded by a conspicuous circumstellar envelope. Spectroscopic and photometric data indicate a B0-2 V-IIIe spectral-type star located at a distance of 3-5kpc and confirm the Be-star/X-ray binary nature of GS0834-43.Comment: 6 pages. Accepted for publication in MNRA

GR 290 (Romano's Star): 2. Light history and evolutionary state

We have built the historical light curve of the luminous variable GR 290 back to 1901, from old observations of the star found in several archival plates of M 33. These old recordings together with published and new data show that for at least half a century the star was in a low luminosity state, with B ~18. After 1960, five large variability cycles of visual luminosity were recorded. The amplitude of the oscillations was seen increasing towards the 1992-1994 maximum, then decreasing during the last maxima. The recent light curve indicates that the photometric variations have been quite similar in all the bands, and that the B-V color index has been constant within +/-0.1 m despite the 1.5m change of the visual luminosity. The spectrum of GR 290 at the large maximum of 1992-94, was equivalent to late-B type, while, during 2002-2014, it has varied between WN10h-11h near the visual maxima to WN8h-9h at the luminosity minima. We have detected, during this same period, a clear anti-correlation between the visual luminosity, the strength of the HeII 4686 A emission line, the strength of the 4600-4700 A lines blend and the spectral type. From a model analysis of the spectra collected during the whole 2002-2014 period we find that the Rosseland radius R_{2/3}, changed between the minimum and maximum luminosity phases by a factor of 3, while T_eff varied between about 33,000 K and 23,000 K. The bolometric luminosity of the star was not constant, but increased by a factor of ~1.5 between minimum and maximum luminosity, in phase with the apparent luminosity variations. In the light of current evolutionary models of very massive stars, we find that GR 290 has evolved from a ~60 M_Sun progenitor star and should have an age of about 4 million years. We argue that it has left the LBV stage and is moving to a Wolf-Rayet stage of late nitrogen spectral type.Comment: Accepted on The Astronomical Journal, 10 figures. Replaced because the previous uploaded file was that without the final small corrections requested by the refere

The identification of the optical/IR counterpart of the 15.8-s transient X-ray pulsar XTE J1946+274

We report on the discovery of the optical/IR counterpart of the 15.8s transient X-ray pulsar XTE J1946+274. We re-analysed archival BeppoSAX observations of XTE J1946+274, obtaining a new refined position (a circle with 22" radius at 90% confidence level). Based on this new position we carried out optical and infra-red (IR) follow-up observations. Within the new error circle we found a relatively optical faint (B=18.6) IR bright (H=12.1) early type reddened star (V--R=1.6). The optical spectra show strong H-alpha and H-beta emission lines. The IR photometric observations of the field confirm the presence of an IR excess for the H-alpha--emitting star (K=11.6, J--H=0.6) which is likely surrounded by a circumstellar envelope. Spectroscopic and photometric data indicate a B0--1V--IVe spectral-type star located at a distance of 8--10kpc and confirm the Be-star/X-ray binary nature of XTE J1946+274.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&A (7 pages and 4 figures

OPTICAL SPECTROPHOTOMETRIC MONITORING OF THE EXTREME LUMINOUS BLUE VARIABLE STAR GR 290 (ROMANO's STAR) IN M 33

We study the long-term, S Dor-type variability and the present hot phase of the luminous blue variable (LBV) star GR 290 (Romano's Star) in M 33 in order to investigate possible links between the LBV and the late, nitrogen sequence Wolf-Rayet Stars (WNL) stages of very massive stars. We use intermediate-resolution spectra, obtained with the William Herschel Telescope (WHT) in 2008 December, when GR 290 was at minimum (V = {approx}18.6), as well as new low-resolution spectra and BVRI photometry obtained with the Loiano and Cima Ekar telescopes during 2007-2010. We identify more than 80 emission lines in the 3100-10000 A range covered by the WHT spectra, belonging to different species: the hydrogen Balmer and Paschen series, neutral and ionized helium, C III, N II-III, S IV, Si III-IV, and many forbidden lines of [N II], [O III], [S III], [A III], [Ne III], and [Fe III]. Many lines, especially the He I triplets, show a P Cygni profile with an a-e radial velocity difference of -300 to -500 km s{sup -1}. The shape of the 4630-4713 A emission blend and of other emission lines resembles that of WN9 stars; the blend deconvolution shows that the He II 4686 Amore » has a strong broad component with FWHM {approx_equal} 1700 km s{sup -1}. During 2003-2010 the star underwent large spectral variations, best seen in the 4630-4686 A emission feature. Using the late-WN spectral types of Crowther and Smith, GR 290 apparently varied between the WN11 and WN8-9 spectral types; the hotter the star was the fainter its visual magnitude was. This spectrum-visual luminosity anticorrelation of GR 290 is reminiscent of the behavior of the best-studied LBVs, such as S Dor and AG Car. During the 2008 minimum, we found a significant decrease in bolometric luminosity, which could be attributed to absorption by newly formed circumstellar matter. We suggest that the broad 4686 A line and the optical continuum formed in a central Wolf-Rayet region, while the narrow emission line spectrum originated in an extended, slowly expanding envelope which is composed by matter ejected during previous high luminosity phases and ionized by the central nucleus. We argue that GR 290 could have just entered a phase preceding the transition from the LBV state to a late-WN type.« les