Current day mass loss rate for Luminous Blue Variable IRAS 18576+0341

Abstract

In this letter we report on the first set of multi-frequency and high angular resolution radio observations of IRAS 18576+0341. The radio observations have revealed an extended, asymmetric and quite structured radio nebula and al- lowed us to locate the central core of this highly obscured new galactic Luminous Blue Variable. From the analysis of radio properties of IRAS 18576+0341 estimates of important physical parameters of the central star have been determined. In partic- ular, an effective temperature of Teff ∼ (2.6 ± 0.2) × 10 4 K, corresponding to a B0-B0.5 supergiant, has been derived. The most notable result is the determination of the current day mass-loss ( u M = 3.7 × 10 −5 Myr −1 ), which is of particular importance since mass-loss rate determination from radio observations appears to be a more reliable method compared to the others based on different diagnostics.