We recently carried out a spectropolarimetric study of a sample of massive O-type stars and pulsating β Cephei stars using the SOFIN echelle spectrograph at the 2.56 m Nordic Optical Telescope and the low-resolution FORS 2 spectrograph at the VLT in spectropolarimetric mode. The sample consists of massive stars already detected as magnetic in the course of our previous low-resolution polarimetric observations with FORS 1 and a few O-type stars with magnetic field detections reported in the literature.

The statistical properties of magnetic fields and magnetic fluxes of OB stars were investigated. The mean magnetic fluxes of massive OB stars appear to be 3 order larger than those for neutron stars.

We report the results of a search for line profile variability (LPV) in the spectra of OB stars. The wavelets were used for looking for the irregular LPV in spectra of program stars. We connect the appearance of irregular details in the LPV with the formation and dissipation of the small-scale substructures (clumps) in the wind.

Mercury-manganese (HgMn) stars were considered to be non-magnetic, showing no evidence of surface spots. However, recent investigations revealed that some stars in this class possess an inhomogeneous distribution of chemical elements on their surfaces. According to our current understanding, the most probable mechanism of spot formation involves magnetic fields. Taking the advantage of a newly-built polarimeter attached to the HARPS spectrometer at the ESO 3.6m-telescope, we performed a high-precision spectropolarimetric survey of a large group of HgMn stars. The main purpose of this study was to find out how typical it is for HgMn stars to have weak magnetic fields. We report no magnetic field detection for any of the studied objects, with a typical precision of the longitudinal field measurements of 10 G and down to 1 Gauss for some of the stars. We conclude that HgMn stars lack large-scale magnetic fields typical of spotted magnetic Ap stars and probably lack any fields capable of creating and sustaining chemical spots. Our study confirms that alongside the magnetically altered atomic diffusion, there must be other structure formation mechanism operating in the atmospheres of late-B main sequence stars.

We report on the detection of a strong, organized magnetic field in the helium-variable early B-type star HR 7355 using spectropolarimetric data obtained with ESPaDOnS on CFHT by the MiMeS large program. We also present results from new V-band differential photometry obtained with the CTIO 0.9m telescope. We investigate the longitudinal field, using a technique called Least-Squares Deconvolution (LSD), and the rotational period of HR 7355. These new observations strongly support the proposal that HR 7355 harbors a structured magnetosphere similar to that in the prototypical helium-strong star, σ Ori E.

The B0.2 V magnetic star τ Sco stands out from the larger population of massive magnetic OB stars due to its remarkable, superionized wind, apparently related to its peculiar magnetic field – a field which is far more complex than the mostly-dipolar fields usually observed in magnetic OB stars. τ Sco is therefore a puzzling outlier in the larger picture of stellar magnetism – a star that still defies interpretation in terms of a physically coherent model.

Recently, two early B-type stars were discovered as τ Sco analogues, identified by the striking similarity of their UV spectra to that of τ Sco, which was – until now – unique among OB stars. We present the recent detection of their magnetic fields by the MiMeS collaboration, reinforcing the connection between the presence of a magnetic field and a superionized wind. We will also present ongoing observational efforts undertaken to establish the precise magnetic topology, in order to provide additional constrains for existing models attempting to reproduce the unique wind structure of τ Sco-like stars.

In some massive stars, magnetic fields are thought to confine the outflowing radiatively-driven wind. Although theoretical models and MHD simulations are able to illustrate the dynamics of such a magnetized wind, the impact of this wind-field interaction on the observable properties of a magnetic star - X-ray emission, photometric and spectral variability - is still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between magnetism, stellar winds and X-ray emission of OB stars, by providing empirical observations and confronting theory. In conjunction with the COUP survey of the Orion Nebula Cluster, we carried out spectropolarimatric ESPaDOnS observations to determine the magnetic properties of massive OB stars of this cluster.

A magnetic field and rotational line profile variability (lpv) is found in the He-weak star HR 2949. The field measured from metallic lines varies in a clearly non-sinusoidal way, and shows a phase lag relative to the morphologically similar He i equivalent width variations. The surface abundance patterns are strong and complex, and visible even in the hydrogen lines.

Seventy-eight high-resolution Stokes V, Q and U spectra of the B8Iae supergiant Rigel were obtained with the ESPaDOnS spectropolarimeter at CFHT and its clone NARVAL at TBL in the context of the Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Large Program, in order to scrutinize this core-collapse supernova progenitor for evidence of weak and/or complex magnetic fields. In this paper we describe the reduction and analysis of the data, the constraints obtained on any photospheric magnetic field, and the variability of photospheric and wind lines.

The solution of the radiative transfer in an expanding atmospheres using the Monte Carlo method is presented. We applied our method to winds of several OB stars. In our calculation, the velocity and density structure is assumed to be given. Selected line profiles are shown.

We present results from Monte-Carlo simulations of linear polarization in clumped OB-star winds. We find that previous single-scattering models of clumped winds have overestimated the degree of polarization, even in cases where individual clumps are optically thin. An application to P Cygni suggests the star's wind is more fragmented than previously thought.

A detailed investigation of momentum transfer in radiatively driven stellar winds shows that for the thin wind case ion decoupling may occur. The decoupling of absorbing ions significantly affects dynamics of the wind. We analysed such effects using our hydrodynamic code and predicted spectral changes with the help of the SHELLSPEC code.

Only 5 Of?p stars have been identified in the Galaxy. Of these, 3 have been studied in detail, and within the past 5 years magnetic fields have been detected in each of them. The observed magnetic and spectral characteristics are indicative of organised magnetic fields, likely of fossil origin, confining their supersonic stellar winds into dense, structured magnetospheres. The systematic detection of magnetic fields in these stars strongly suggests that the Of?p stars represent a general class of magnetic O-type stars.

We report the results of our search for magnetic fields in a representative sample of classical Be stars carried out during 2006-2008 using low-resolution spectropolarimetry with FORS1 at the VLT. Among the 28 classical Be stars studied, detections of a magnetic field were achieved in seven stars (i.e. ~25%). The detected magnetic fields are rather weak, not stronger than ~150G. Among the Be stars studied with time series, one Be star, λ Eri, displays cyclic variability of the magnetic field with a period of 21.12 min.

We present the results of magnetic field measurements for a sample of 23 young Herbig Ae/Be (HAEBEs) stars and 12 stars with debris disks. The spectropolarimetric data were obtained during four observing runs in 2003-2008 at the European Southern Observatory with the multi-mode instrument FORS 1 installed at the 8 m Kueyen telescope. Among the 23 HAEBEs studied, stellar magnetic fields of about 100-150G have been detected in 11 stars (i.e. ~50%). The presence of circumstellar polarization signatures formed in the stellar wind supports the assumption that the magnetic centrifuge is one of the main mechanisms of the wind acceleration. No field detection at a significance level of 3σ was achieved in stars with debris disks.

Massive stars have a strong impact on globular cluster evolution. First providing they rotate initially fast enough they can reach the break-up velocity during the main sequence and a mechanical mass-loss will eject matter from the equator at low velocity. Rotation-induced mixing will also bring matter from the convective core to the surface. From this ejected matter loaded in H-burning material a second generation of stars will born. The chemical pattern of these second generation stars are similar to the one observed for stars in globular cluster with abundance anomalies in light elements. Then during the explosion as supernovae the massive stars will also clear the cluster of the remaining gas. If this gas expulsion process acts on short timescale it can strongly modify the dynamical properties of clusters by ejecting preferentially first generation stars.

One of the challenges for stellar astrophysics is to reach the point at which we can undertake reliable spectral synthesis of unresolved populations in young, star-forming galaxies at high redshift. Here I summarise recent studies of massive stars in the Galaxy and Magellanic Clouds, which span a range of metallicities commensurate with those in high-redshift systems, thus providing an excellent laboratory in which to study the role of environment on stellar evolution. I also give an overview of observations of luminous supergiants in external galaxies out to a remarkable 6.7 Mpc, in which we can exploit our understanding of stellar evolution to study the chemistry and dynamics of the host systems.

Among the emission-line stars, the classical Be stars known for their extreme properties are remarkable. The Be stars are B-type main sequence stars that have displayed at least once in their life emission lines in their spectrum. Beyond this phenomenological approach some progresses were made on the understanding of this class of stars. With high-technology techniques (interferometry, adaptive optics, multi-objects spectroscopy, spectropolarimetry, high-resolution photometry, etc) from different instruments and space mission such as the VLTI, CHARA, FLAMES, ESPADONS-NARVAL, COROT, MOST, SPITZER, etc, some discoveries were performed allowing to constrain the modeling of the Be stars stellar evolution but also their circumstellar decretion disks. In particular, the confrontation between theory and observations about the effects of the stellar formation and evolution on the main sequence, the metallicity, the magnetic fields, the stellar pulsations, the rotational velocity, and the binarity (including the X-rays binaries) on the Be phenomenon appearance is discussed. The disks observations and the efforts made on their modeling is mentioned. As the life of a star does not finish at the end of the main sequence, we also mention their stellar evolution post main sequence including the gamma-ray bursts. Finally, the different new results and remaining questions about the main physical properties of the Be stars are summarized and possible ways of investigations proposed. The recent and future facilities (XSHOOTER, ALMA, E-ELT, TMT, GMT, JWST, GAIA, etc) and their instruments that may help to improve the knowledge of Be stars are also briefly introduced.

We present a study of the infrared properties of 4922 spectroscopically confirmed massive stars in the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, focusing on the active OB star population. Besides OB stars, our sample includes yellow and red supergiants, Wolf-Rayet stars, Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) and supergiant B[e] stars. We detect a distinct Be star sequence, displaced to the red, and find a higher fraction of Oe and Be stars among O and early-B stars in the SMC, respectively, when compared to the LMC, and that the SMC Be stars occur at higher luminosities. We also find photometric variability among the active OB population and evidence for transitions of Be stars to B stars and vice versa. We furthermore confirm the presence of dust around all the supergiant B[e] stars in our sample, finding the shape of their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) to be very similar, in contrast to the variety of SED shapes among the spectrally variable LBVs.

Discovered over 30 years ago, the B[e] phenomenon has not yet revealed all its puzzles. New objects that exhibit it are being discovered in the Milky Way, and properties of known objects are being constrained. We review recent findings about objects of this class and their subgroups as well as discuss new results from studies of the objects with yet unknown nature. In the Magellanic Clouds, the population of such objects has been restricted to supergiants. We present new candidates with apparently lower luminosities found in the LMC.