Wind structure in late-B supergiants

TL;DR

This paper investigates the wind structures in late-B supergiants, suggesting that surface phenomena like pulsations or magnetic fields could cause deviations from smooth, spherical stellar winds.

Contribution

It provides observational evidence of wind peculiarities in late-B supergiants and discusses potential physical mechanisms responsible for these structures.

Findings

Detection of peculiar H alpha profiles in late-B supergiants

Indications of deviations from spherically symmetric winds

Possible link to non-radial pulsations or magnetic fields

Abstract

Extended spectroscopic datasets of several late-B stars of luminosity class Ia revealed the presence of similar peculiarities in their H alpha profiles, which might be interpreted as indications of deviation from spherically symmetric, smooth wind approximation. Surface structures due to non-radial pulsations or weak, large-scale, dipole magnetic fields might be responsible for creating wind structure in the envelopes of these stars.