Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faculty Publications Article Faculty Publications -Articles Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Arun, R.; Prasoon, S.A.; Mathew, Blesson; Akhila, D.; Banerjee, Gourav; Shridharan, B.; Maheswar, G.; Surya, Arun Title A name given to the resource Discovery of fullerenes in the shell of candidate luminous blue variable WRAY 16-232 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 01-01-2025 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society;Volume;543;Issue;4;pp.3214-3228 Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1676" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/staf1676</a> <br /><br /><a href="https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105018861328?origin=resultslist" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105018861328?origin=resultslist</a> Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Arun R., Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore, 560034, India; Prasoon S.A., Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore, 560034, India, Center of Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560029, India; Mathew B., Center of Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560029, India; Akhila D., Center of Excellence in Astronomy and Astrophysics, Department of Physics and Electronics, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 560029, India, Instituto de Astronom y Ciencias Planetarias, Universidad de Atacama, Copayapu 485, Copiap Chile; Banerjee G., Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore, 560034, India; Shridharan B., Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Homi Bhabha Road, Mumbai, 400005, India; Maheswar G., Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore, 560034, India; Surya A., Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Sarjapur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore, 560034, India Description An account of the resource We report the discovery of fullerene in the circumstellar environment of WRAY 16-232, a strong candidate luminous blue variable. Multiple pointings of archival Spitzer Infrared Spectrograph spectra reveal, for the first time, the presence of prominent vibrational bands of C60 at 17.4 and 18.9 ?m in a luminous blue variable (LBV) envelope, along with the strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon features. These observations suggest that, despite the harsh radiative conditions, large carbonaceous molecules can form, process, and survive in the ejecta of massive stars. Complementary optical spectroscopy with South African Large Telescope High-Resolution Spectrograph shows multiple P Cygni profiles in H ?, He i, and Fe ii lines, which are indicative of a dense, expanding wind and substantial mass-loss. Furthermore, analysis of decade long photometric data shows short-term brightness variations of ?0.5 mag. These results not only reinforce the classification of WRAY 16-232 as a strong LBV candidate but also provide new insights into the mechanisms of dust formation and the chemical enrichment of the interstellar medium by massive stars. We discuss various scenarios for fullerene formation in such environments, and find that shock processing due to wind-wind interactions could be playing a vital role. The shell of WRAY 16-232 has an ideal UV field strength and the time-scales appear to match with shock processing time-scales. The results highlight the need for further high spatial/spectral resolution and temporal observations to confirm the formation and survival scenario of C60 in its shell. The Author(s) 2025. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Astronomical Society. Subject The topic of the resource astrochemistry; circumstellar matter; infrared: stars; stars: variables: general; stars: winds, outflows Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Oxford University Press Relation A related resource ISSN: 358711; CODEN: MNRAA Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Article Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource All Open Access; Gold Open Access Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource online