The Brightest Stars

1: The Upper Boundaries of the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. - 1.1. Preamble. - 1.2. The Most Luminous Stars. - 1.3. Gravitational Acceleration Versus Radiation Forces. - 1.4. Inclusion of the Mass-Luminosity Relation. - 1.5. The Effective Value of the Acceleration of Gravity Influence of Radiation Pressure. - 1.6. Influence of Rotation and of Turbulent Motions. - 1.7. 'Boundaries' to the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram. - 1.8. Terminology Related to Extended Atmospheres. - 2: The Main Observational Characteristics of the Most Luminous Stars. - 2.1. Spectral and Luminosity Classification. - 2.2. Absolute Magnitude and Luminosity Criteria. - 2.3. The Effective Temperature Scale and the Bolometric Correction. - 2.4. Masses of Massive Stars. - 2.5. Radii of Luminous Stars. - 2.6. geff-Values in Extreme Objects. - 2.7. The Distribution of Light over the Surface of Supergiants. - 2.8. Magnetic Fields of Luminous Stars. - 2.9. Turbulent Velocities. - 2.10. Rotational Velocities in Atmospheres of Bright Stars. - 2.11. Polarization of Light of Stars with Extended Atmospheres. - 3: Spectral Characteristics and Stellar Parameters for the Main Groups of Luminous Stars Some Prototypes. - 3.1. O- and Bright B-Stars. - 3.2. The Of and Oef Stars. - 3.3. The Most Luminous Galactic Star. - 3.4. The Wolf-Rayet Stars. - 3.5. The P Cygni Stars, and P Cygni Profiles. - 3.6. The Oe, Be-, and Shell-Type Stars. - 3.7. The CNO-Stars (or: OBCN Stars). - 3.8. The Super-Supergiants (Hypergiants). - 3.9. The Most Luminous Extragalactic Star. - 3.10. G- and K-Type Supergiants Zeta Aurigae Stars. - 3.11. The Coolest of the Bright Stars. - 3.12. The Central Stars of Planetary Nebulae. - 4: The Evolution of Massive Stars. - 4.1. The First Phases of the Evolution of Massive Stars. - 4.2. The Main Sequence Life Times, Stability. - 4.3. Post-Main-Sequence Evolution of Massive Stars. - 4.4. Convection and Semi-Convection. - 4.5. The Influence of Mass-Loss on the Evolution of Massive Stars. - 4.6. Stellar Abundances and Nuclear Reactions the Influence of Thermal Pulses. - 4.7. The Mira Stars. - 4.8. The Carbon Burning and Later Phases. - 4.9. Supernovae. - 4.10. Evolution of Close Massive Binaries. - 4.10. 1. The Roche Surface. - 4.10. 2. Evolution of Close Binary Stars the Conservative Case. - 4.10. 3. Evolution of Close Binaries in the Non-Conservative Case. - 4.10. 4. The Last Phases of Binary Star Evolution. - 4.11. The Origin of Wolf-Rayet Stars. - 4.12. The Origin of X-Ray Binaries Mass Transfer onto a Compact Companion. - 4.13. Stellar Rotation and Evolution. - 5: The Structure of Very Tenuous Stellar Atmospheres. - 5.1. Atmospheric Models Radiative or Convective Equilibrium. - 5.2. The Assumption of Plane-Parallel Atmospheric Layers. - 5.3. Models of Very Tenuous Atmospheres the Plane-Parallel Case. - 5.4. Models of Extended and Spherical Stellar Atmospheres the Static Case. - 5.5. Expanding Spherical Stellar Atmospheres Introduction. - 5.6. The Radiation Force on Outer Stellar Layers. - 5.7. Radiation-Driven Expanding Atmospheres the Subsonic Region. - 5.8. Line-Driven Stellar Winds. - 5.9. Model Envelopes of Early-Type Stars with Line-Driven Stellar Winds. - 5.10. Convection in Supergiant Atmospheres. - 6: Chromospheres, Coronae, Gas and Dust Around Luminous Stars. - 6.0. Generalities. - 6.1. What is a Stellar 'Chromosphere'? - 6.2. Conditions for the Occurrence of Emission Lines Chromospheric Indicators. - 6.3. Observations in Some Chromospheric Indicators. - 6.4. Properties of Chromospheres and 'Warm Envelopes' in Various Types of Stars as Derived from Spectral Investigations. - 6.5. Outward Increase of the Source Function or the Temperature in Near-Photospheric Layers. - 6.6. Chromospheric and Coronal Heating - the Solar Case. - 6.7. Wave Modes in a Stellar Photosphere. - 6.8. The Generation of Mechanical Fluxes in Stellar Photospheres. - 6.9. Comparison of Predicted and 'Observed' Stellar Mechanical Fluxes. - 6.10. The Computation of Stellar Coronal Parameters. - 6.10. 1. Historical and General Remarks. - 6.10. 2. The Non-Magnetic Approach. - 6.10. 3. The Role of Magnetic Fields in Coronal Heating. - 6.11. The Observation of Coronae of Luminous Stars. - 6.12. Circumstellar Gas - (a) Circumstellar Spectral Lines. - 6.13. Circumstellar Gas - (b) Thermal Microwave and Infrared Emission from Bright Stars. - 6.14. Circumstellar Gas - (c) Maser Effects. - 6.15. Circumstellar Dust. - 6.16. Circumstellar Gas and Dust: the Red Supergiant VY CMa. - 6.17. Circumstellar Gas and Dust: the Object ? Carinae. - 7: Mass-Loss from Bright Stars. - 7.1. Outline. - 7.2. Observational Indicators and General Properties of Mass-Flow. - 7.3. The Expected Shape of Spectral Lines in an Expanding Atmosphere Some Well-Studied Cases. - 7.4. Summary of Observationally-Determined Values for Mass-Loss. - ? Carinae. - P Cygni. - Wolf-Rayet Stars. - O- and Bright B-Type Stars. - A-Type Supergiants. - F-, G-, K-Type Supergiants. - Late-Type Giants and Supergiants. - Summary of Mass Flux Data Comprehensive Representations. - 7.5. Stellar Mass-Flux Theory Based on Fluctuation Theory. - 7.6. The Mechanisms of Supergiant Mass-Loss. - 7.7. Expanding Dust Shells. - 8: Variability of Supergiant Atmospheres. - 8.1. Introduction History. - 8.2. Brightness Variations. - 8.3. Colour Variability. - 8.4. Spectrum Variations. - 8.5. Variability of Stellar Winds. - 8.6. Supergiant Atmospheric Pulsations. - 8.7. Causes of Long-Period Variability. - 9: Stars of Transient Extreme Brightness Novae, Supernovae. - 9.1. Introduction. - 9.2. Types, Light-Curves, and Absolute Magnitudes. - 9.3. Pre- and Post-Novae Novae as binaries are Classical Novae Recurrent? - 9.4. The Main Observational Parameters of Novae. - 9.5. Line Spectra Description and Analysis Abundances 'Coronal' lines X-Ray Emission and X-Ray Novae. - 9.6. The Continuous Spectra Dust Shells. - 9.7. Rapid Brightness Fluctuations of Novae. - 9.8. Morphology of Novae Envelopes and Surrounding Nebulosities. - 9.9. Theories and Models on the Development of the Photospheres of Novae. - 9.10. The Origin of the Nova Instability. - 9.11. Supernovae Types, Lightcurves, and Energies. - 9.12. The Continuous Spectra of Supernovae. - 9.13. Line Spectra of Type I Supernovae. - 9.14. Structural and Dynamical Models of Type I Supernovae. - 9.15. Type II Supernovae Line Spectra, Light Curves, Scenario of Events. - 9.16. High Energy Photon and Particle Emissions from Supernovae. - 9.17. Supernova Remnants. - 9.18. Supernova Remnants in the Large Magellanic Cloud. - 9.19. The Interaction of Supernova Ejecta with the Interstellar Medium. - References. - Symbols and Notations. - Alphabetic List of Stars. - Objects by Name. - Supernovae (By Year of Appearance).