Astronomy Team Continues Quest to Uncover the Mystery of a Rare Star Class

When you hear the term "luminous blue variables," astronomy may not be the first thing that comes to mind.

But these stellar giants — LBVs for short — are some of the most fascinating objects in space. Massive and unstable, these stars can burn a million times brighter than the Sun. Throughout their evolution, LBVs fluctuate in mass, color and brightness. Eventually, they shed their mass in explosive eruptions and transform — often into an even brighter form.

What causes the wild changes in LBVs’ qualities? That question has puzzled astronomers for centuries.

At Embry‑Riddle's Prescott Campus, Dr. Noel D. Richardson, assistant professor of Physics and Astronomy, led a three-year study ending in fall 2024 to investigate the mystery. The project included undergraduate astronomy students Becca Spejcher (’24) and Mari Beltran (’23) and two high school interns.

We spoke with some of the student researchers who helped shine a new light on these strange stars.

A Team United

Becca Spejcher wasn’t just a student on the project — she wrote most of the team’s code, mentored two charter school interns and co-authored a paper published in The Astronomical Journal.

“I was a campus academic mentor,” she said, “so I already knew a lot about mentoring students from a less professional standpoint, but working with Eddie and Payton taught me how to be a research mentor and guide younger students who are just as excited as we are to do research.”

Those interns, Edward Avila and Payton Butler, were seniors at BASIS Prescott, a STEM-focused charter school. They processed data using Jupyter, a web-based platform, relying on code Spejcher developed.

In the project’s first year, Mari Beltran teamed up with Spejcher to reduce data for candidate LBVs and compute Fourier transforms for the stars’ light curves.

Outside the lab, both undergrads were heavily involved on campus. Beltran joined a NASA mission aboard SOFIA, the world’s largest flying observatory, helping map water on the moon. Spejcher spoke at the naming ceremony for the exoplanet Awohali, which was identified by the largest telescope ever launched into space.

Growing Through Research

For Spejcher, working side by side with Richardson was a defining experience. “This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be able to start a project from the beginning and see it all the way through to the end,” she said.

She emphasized the importance of resilience, “I learned that research is going to come with a lot of ups and downs, a lot of setbacks and a lot of leaps forward — but that is all part of the process.”

Spejcher also stressed writing clean, readable code. It’s not enough to get results — others need to be able to understand and build on your work.

The team pulled data from NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) and compared it to data from the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae (ASAS-SN). The biggest challenge? “Figuring out how to normalize and detrend the TESS data and compare it to ASAS-SN,” Spejcher said.

After early results didn’t line up, she reworked the calculations entirely. Avila and Butler helped expand the data set, learning valuable coding and problem-solving skills along the way — skills Avila now applies in his computer engineering studies.

Avila’s passion for space started early. “I've been interested in all astronomical objects ever since I was nine years old,” he said. So, when the chance to study LBVs came up, he knew it was the perfect project.

A Feeling Like No Other

Despite all their effort, the team didn’t find the breakthrough results they hoped for. Still, as Richardson put it, “Even when you don’t find such things, it is worth sharing this as a scientist.”

But there were surprises.

While reviewing the team’s graphical analysis of their data, Richardson, whose prior discoveries sent ripples through the science community, saw something unexpected. “The fact that we were able to not only get results but to get results that were even more interesting than expected was a feeling like no other,” said Spejcher.

What they found supported a newer theory: That all LBVs shed mass to avoid reaching their “Eddington luminosity” — a theoretical limit on how bright a star can shine before radiation pushes material away. Essentially, these stars may erupt to save themselves from self-destruction.

After their outbursts — lasting months or even years — LBVs stabilize, potentially becoming Wolf-Rayet stars in a final effort to prolong their life.

Living Witnesses

Spejcher captured the wonder that drives many space scientists:

“Learning more about the universe will help us learn more about ourselves, how we might have gotten here, what will happen to us a million years from now and, of course, everyone’s favorite topic — whether we are alone in the universe.”

She pointed out poetically that we are fortunate to be living witnesses to the evolution of this unbelievable unknown.

A Glimpse at the Future

Spejcher used the first half of the LBV study for her senior thesis. The full project went on to be published in The Astronomical Journal, one of the largest astronomy journals in the world and an open-access journal anyone can read for free.

Now, she’s pursuing a Master’s in Astrophysics at Tufts University, studying how the light from stars changes when planets pass in front of them. She’s grateful for her classes at Embry‑Riddle, especially Dr. Brian Rachford’s Astrophysics II course, which gave her an edge in grad school.

Beltran is now attending graduate school at DePaul University. Avila is exploring professional pathways after high school and remains confident, offering some timeless encouragement to all: “You can put your skills into anything you want to.”

An Enduring Mystery

The mystery of LBVs remains — and that’s part of what makes them so fascinating.

Thanks to the team’s passion and persistence and the support of the NASA Space Grant awarded by Embry‑Riddle’s Undergraduate Research Institute, more data is now available for future astronomers to analyze.

At Embry‑Riddle Prescott, astronomy is one of nine thrilling disciplines within the College of Arts and Sciences. If you're passionate about stars, science or discovery, we welcome you to explore what research at Embry‑Riddle can offer. Get more information or apply today!