Abstract

WR stars and their precursors, the LBVs, represent the late stages of evolution of hot, massive stars, and are often surrounded by ring nebulae. These are believed to be formed either by the action of the stellar wind, a past, episode of violent ejection from the star, or a combination of these two processes. The various research applications of LBV and WR nebulae are reviewed, particularly with regard to the information they provide on the central stars. Abundance studies show that N overabundances and O deficiencies are a general feature of ejecta around evolved massive stars. Observations of bipolarity in LBV nebulae provide valuable clues to wind asymmetries in the central stars. The nebulae can also be used to derive stellar effective temperatures through photoionization modelling. Finally, the connection between LBV and WR nebulae from an observational point of view is discussed.