The Nebula around the Luminous Blue Variable WRAY 15-751 as seen by Herschel

To understand the evolution of massive stars it is crucial to study the nebulae associated to Luminous Blue Variables which can reveal the star mass-loss history. We obtained far-infrared Herschel PACS imaging and spectroscopic observations of the nebula associated with the Luminous Blue Variable star WRAY 15-751. These images revealed a second nebula, bigger and cooler, lying in an empty cavity that probably delineates the remnant of the O-star bubble formed when the star was on the Main Sequence. The dust mass and temperature were derived from the modeling of the far-infrared SED. The analysis of the emission line spectrum revealed that the main nebula consists of a region of photoionised gas surrounded by a thin photodissociation region. Both regions are mixed with dust. The calculated C, N, O abundances, together with the estimated mass-loss rate, show that the nebula was ejected from the star during a Red Supergiant phase. This is compatible with the latest evolutionary tracks for a ~40 Mo star with little rotation.