(Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars
Journal article, 2020
Binary interactions dominate the evolution of massive stars, but their role is less clear for low- and intermediate-mass stars. The evolution of a spherical wind from an asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star into a nonspherical planetary nebula (PN) could be due to binary interactions. We observed a sample of AGB stars with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and found that their winds exhibit distinct nonspherical geometries with morphological similarities to planetary nebulae (PNe). We infer that the same physics shapes both AGB winds and PNe; additionally, the morphology and AGB mass-loss rate are correlated. These characteristics can be explained by binary interaction. We propose an evolutionary scenario for AGB morphologies that is consistent with observed phenomena in AGB stars and PNe.
solar system
stellar evolution
shape
white dwarfs
Author
L. Decin
University of Leeds
KU Leuven
M. Montargès
KU Leuven
A.M.S. Richards
University of Manchester
C. A. Gottlieb
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
W. Homan
KU Leuven
I. McDonald
University of Manchester
Open University
I. El Mellah
KU Leuven
Taissa Danilovich
KU Leuven
Sofia Wallström
KU Leuven
A. Zijlstra
University of Manchester
The University of Hong Kong
A. Baudry
University of Bordeaux
J. Bolte
KU Leuven
E. Cannon
KU Leuven
Elvire de Beck
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
F. De Ceuster
University College London (UCL)
KU Leuven
A. de Koter
University of Amsterdam
KU Leuven
J. De Ridder
KU Leuven
S. Etoka
University of Manchester
D. Gobrecht
KU Leuven
M. D. Gray
University of Manchester
National Astronomical Research Institute of Thailand
F. Herpin
University of Bordeaux
M. Jeste
Max Planck Society
E. Lagadec
Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur
P. Kervella
Université Paris PSL
Theo Khouri
Chalmers, Space, Earth and Environment, Astronomy and Plasmaphysics
K. Menten
Max Planck Society
T.J. Millar
Queen's University Belfast
Holger Muller
University of Cologne
J. M. C. Plane
University of Leeds
R. Sahai
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
H. Sana
KU Leuven
M. Van De Sande
KU Leuven
Lbfm Waters
University of Amsterdam
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
K. T. Wong
Institut de Radioastronomie Millimétrique (IRAM)
J. A. Yates
University College London (UCL)
Science
0036-8075 (ISSN) 1095-9203 (eISSN)
Vol. 369 6509 1497-1500Subject Categories
Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Infrastructure
Onsala Space Observatory
DOI
10.1126/science.abb1229
PubMed
32943524