Ejections, Eruptions, and Explosions in the Upper HR Diagram

Roberta Humphreys
The University of Minnesota

There are now two recent examples of supernovae that apparently experienced a non-terminal eruption prior to the final explosion. These pre-SN events have been described as LBV eruptions. And it is now being suggested that LBVs may be the progenitors of certain types of supernovae. But are they? I'll review the evidence for episodic high mass loss events in evolved massive stars -- known variously as Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs), cool hypergiants, giant eruption LBVs, and the new class of "supernova impostors". I'll also present recent results for a "giant eruption" in a low-mass massive star.