Adaptive optics imaging of P Cygni in H-alpha

We obtained H-alpha diffraction limited data of the LBV star P Cyg using th e ONERA Adaptive Optics (AO) facility BOA at the OHP 1.52 m telescope on Oc tober 1997. Taking P Cyg and the reference star 59 Cyg AO long exposures, w e find that P Cyg clearly exhibits a large and diffuse intensity distributi on compared to the 59 Cyg's point-like source. A deconvolution of P Cyg usi ng 59 Cyg as the Point Spread Function was performed by means of the Richar dson-Lucy algorithm. P Cyg clearly appears as an unresolved star surrounded by a clumped envelope. The reconstructed image of P Cyg is compared to sim ilar spatial resolution maps obtained from radio aperture synthesis imaging . We put independent constraints on the physics of P Cyg which agree well w ith radio results. We discuss future possibilities to constrain the wind st ructure of P Cyg by using multi-resolution imaging, coronagraphy and long b aseline interferometry to trace back its evolutionary status.