B. Wolf[1], A. Kaufer[2], T. Rivinius[1], O. Stahl[1], T. Szeifert[2], S. Tubbesing[1]
[1] Landessternwarte Koenigstuhl, Heidelberg, Germany
[2] ESO, Garching, Germany
Abstract: Within our guaranteed observing time of 80 half nights we monitored between Nov. 1998 and Feb. 1999 spectroscopically the most luminous BA supergiants of the Magellanic Clouds with FEROS (Fiber fed Extended Range Optical Spectrograph) which has recently been commissioned at ESO at the 1.52-m telescope. FEROS is an extremely efficient echelle spectrograph (20% maximum efficiency) with a resolving power of R=48.000 and a wavelength coverage from 360 to 920 nm. It has been built at the Landessternwarte for ESO. The results from our campaign will be presented and discussed. Special emphasis is given to the early-B hypergiant (B2.5Ia-O) R81 of the LMC. R81 had been discovered by our group to be an eclipsing binary with a period of 74.6 days. It is the only known system with a P Cygni component. During 80 nights we obtained a complete phase coverage of R81 with typically one spectrum per night. From this data set we derive fundamental stellar parameters. The spectra as well as the light curve of R81 indicate the existence of mass exchange ond of colliding winds. Due to the large wavelength coverage of FEROS there is a wealth of strategic lines for a detailed diagnostic study of the phase dependent ionization structure and the flow pattern in the outer configuration of R81.