February 18, 2025

Rho Cassiopeiae (Image courtesy Anugu et al. 2024)

An article published in the journal “Astronomy & Astrophysics” reports the results of a study on some yellow hypergiants and in particular Rho Cassiopeiae, of which observations are available that go back to 1885. A team of researchers also examined observations of HR 8752, HR 5171A, and HD 179821 with a focus on the outbursts and the resulting variability that characterize yellow hypergiants. This study shows that the pulsations of Rho Cassiopeiae, or simply Rho Cas, become more intense when it approaches an explosive event. 138 years of observations have led to modeling Rho Cas’s behavior and predicting its future.