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A. Nota (STScI/ESA)
Systematic investigations of Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) and related Ofpe/WN9 stars, in the Galaxy and in the Magellanic Clouds, have shown that the most massive evolved stars are surrounded by an ejected nebula, whose kinematical and chemical properties can be used to constrain the mass loss history of the central star. Their morphology has suggested that they are shaped by wind interactions. The nebular kinematics indicate that the ejection timescale is comparable with the evolutionary lifetime of the LBV phase. Their chemical composition can be used to infer the evolutionary status of the central star at the moment of the ejection. In this talk, I will review how the observational properties of the nebulae surrounding Luminous Blue Variables (LBVs) and Ofpe/WN9 stars are used to gain information on the evolutionary status of the star which generated them, and I will discuss how they impact our current understanding of massive star evolution.