Giant eruptions of very massive stars

Kris Davidson

University of Minnesota, USA

VMS giant eruptions or supernova-impostor events are far more mysterious than true supernovae. An extreme example can release as much radiative energy as a SN, and can eject several Msun of material. However, these events involve continuous radiation-driven outflows rather than blast waves. Since their basic instabilities are still unknown, they constitute one of the leading unsolved problems in stellar astrophysics -- but so far have not received much theoretical attention. This talk will focus on the basic distinctions between giant eruptions and supernovae, with many hints gathered from Eta Car and two or three other well-observed impostors.

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