Observations of the structure of LBV-- winds

Indrek Kolka
Tartu Observatory, Estonia

In this review, the "structure" is considered from two viewpoints as a certain type of "inhomogeneity".

First, observations of LBV-s indicate the existence of the smooth distribution of temperature and ionization state in the full volume of the wind. Secondly, different kinds of observations (spectroscopy, polarimetry, interferometry) give evidence, too, on regions of density enhancements and/or density drops in the gas--flows from LBV-s which can have, in principle, a different temperature and ionization balance in comparison with the ambient gas.

Published observational data on selected LBV-s will be checked from aspects mentioned above to find differences and similarities in the wind structure. The connection to B[e] counterparts, and other evolutionally close objects will be discussed.

An attempt will be made to answer the question how the thermodynamical structure of LBV--winds is manifested in observational diagnostics, and which level of interpretation is achievable observationally without any direct modelling approach.