Spectroscopic Diagnostics for Circumstellar Disks of B[e] Supergiants

B[e] supergiants (B[e]SGs) are emission-line objects, presumably in a short-lived phase in the post-main sequence evolution of massive stars. Their intense infrared excess emission indicates large amounts of warm circumstellar dust. It has long been assumed that the stars possess an aspherical wind consisting of a classical line-driven wind in the polar direction and a dense, slow equatorial wind dubbed out-flowing disk. The general properties obtained for these disks are in line with this scenario, although current theories have considerable difficulties reproducing the observed quantities. Therefore, more sophisticated observational constraints are needed. These follow from combined optical and infrared spectroscopic studies, which delivered the surprising result that the circumstellar material of B[e]SGs is concentrated in multiple rings revolving the stars on stable Keplerian orbits. Such a scenario requires new ideas for the formation mechanism where pulsations might play an important role.