Abstract

Pulsations of massive stars

Anthony Moffat (Université de Montréal)

Intrinsic variability studies of massive stars have mostly concentrated on H-burning stars later then O type, e.g. beta Cep variables, Slowly Pulsating B-stars, … . In this overview I will concentrate on O stars and their descendents. Of particular interest are the long strings of high-precision photometry that can now be obtained from space, in particular by the 15cm Canadian microsatellite MOST (Microvariability and Oscillations of STars) launched in 2003. This will be followed by the launch over the next two years of the international BRITE (BRIght Target Explorer)-Constellation, six nanosatellites each housing a 3cm telescope, to obtain long strings of high-precision photometry of naked-eye stars, which tend to be massive.