TY - JOUR A1 - Gvaramadze, V. V. A1 - Kniazev, A. Y. A1 - Miroshnichenko, A. S. A1 - Berdnikov, Leonid N. A1 - Langer, N. A1 - Stringfellow, G. S. A1 - Todt, Helge Tobias A1 - Hamann, Wolf-Rainer A1 - Grebel, E. K. A1 - Buckley, D. A1 - Crause, L. A1 - Crawford, S. A1 - Gulbis, A. A1 - Hettlage, C. A1 - Hooper, E. A1 - Husser, T. -O. A1 - Kotze, P. A1 - Loaring, N. A1 - Nordsieck, K. H. A1 - O'Donoghue, D. A1 - Pickering, T. A1 - Potter, S. A1 - Colmenero, E. Romero A1 - Vaisanen, P. A1 - Williams, T. A1 - Wolf, M. A1 - Reichart, D. E. A1 - Ivarsen, K. M. A1 - Haislip, J. B. A1 - Nysewander, M. C. A1 - LaCluyze, A. P. T1 - Discovery of two new Galactic candidate luminous blue variables with Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - We report the discovery of two new Galactic candidate luminous blue variable (LBV) stars via detection of circular shells (typical of confirmed and candidate LBVs) and follow-up spectroscopy of their central stars. The shells were detected at 22 mu m in the archival data of the Mid-Infrared All Sky Survey carried out with the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE). Follow-up optical spectroscopy of the central stars of the shells conducted with the renewed Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) showed that their spectra are very similar to those of the well-known LBVs P Cygni and AG Car, and the recently discovered candidate LBV MN112, which implies the LBV classification for these stars as well. The LBV classification of both stars is supported by detection of their significant photometric variability: one of them brightened in the R and I bands by 0.68 +/- 0.10 and 0.61 +/- 0.04 mag, respectively, during the last 1318 years, while the second one (known as Hen 3-1383) varies its B, V, R, I and Ks brightnesses by similar or equal to 0.50.9 mag on time-scales from 10 d to decades. We also found significant changes in the spectrum of Hen 3-1383 on a time-scale of similar or equal to 3 months, which provides additional support for the LBV classification of this star. Further spectrophotometric monitoring of both stars is required to firmly prove their LBV status. We discuss a connection between the location of massive stars in the field and their fast rotation, and suggest that the LBV activity of the newly discovered candidate LBVs might be directly related to their possible runaway status. KW - line: identification KW - circumstellar matter KW - stars: emission-line, Be KW - stars: evolution KW - stars: individual: Hen 3-1383 KW - stars: massive Y1 - 2012 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2966.2012.20556.x SN - 0035-8711 VL - 421 IS - 4 SP - 3325 EP - 3337 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Gvaramadze, V. V. A1 - Kniazev, Alexei Y. A1 - Oskinova, Lida T1 - Discovery of a putative supernova remnant around the long-period X-ray pulsar SXP 1323 in the Small Magellanic Cloud JF - Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society N2 - We report the discovery of a circular shell centred on the Be X-ray binary (BeXB) SXP 1323 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The shell was detected in an H α image obtained with the Very Large Telescope. Follow-up spectroscopy with the Southern African Large Telescope showed that the shell expands with a velocity of ≈100kms−1 and that its emission is due to shock excitation. We suggest that this shell is a remnant of the supernova explosion that led to the formation of SXP 1323’s neutron star ≈40000 yr ago. SXP 1323 represents the second known case of a BeXB associated with a supernova remnant (the first one is SXP 1062). Interestingly, both of these BeXBs harbour long-period pulsars and are located in a low-metallicity galaxy. KW - stars: emission-line, Be KW - stars: individual: [MA93] 1393 KW - stars: massive KW - ISM: supernova remnants KW - X-rays: binaries KW - X-rays: individual: SXP 1323 Y1 - 2019 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1093/mnrasl/slz018 SN - 0035-8711 SN - 1365-2966 VL - 485 IS - 1 SP - L6 EP - L10 PB - Oxford Univ. Press CY - Oxford ER -