ALMA reveals sunburn: CO dissociation around AGB stars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae
Journal article, 2015

Atacama Large Millimetre Array observations show a non-detection of carbon monoxide around the four most luminous asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in the globular cluster 47 Tucanae. Stellar evolution models and star counts show that the mass-loss rates from these stars should be similar to 1.2-3.5x10(-7) M-circle dot yr(-1). We would naively expect such stars to be detectable at this distance (4.5 kpc). By modelling the ultraviolet radiation field from post-AGB stars and white dwarfs in 47 Tuc, we conclude that CO should be dissociated abnormally close to the stars. We estimate that the CO envelopes will be truncated at a few hundred stellar radii from their host stars and that the line intensities are about two orders of magnitude below our current detection limits. The truncation of CO envelopes should be important for AGB stars in dense clusters. Observing the CO (3-2) and higher transitions and targeting stars far from the centres of clusters should result in the detections needed to measure the outflow velocities from these stars.

stars: mass-loss

stars: winds

circumstellar matter

globular clusters: individual: NGC 104

infrared: stars

outflows

stars: AGB and post-AGB

Author

I. McDonald

University of Manchester

A. Zijlstra

University of Manchester

E. Lagadec

Cornell University

Observatoire de la Cote d'Azur

G. C. Sloan

Cornell University

M. Boyer

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

M. Matsuura

University College London (UCL)

Cardiff University

R. J. Smith

University of Manchester

C. L. Smith

University of Manchester

J. A. Yates

University College London (UCL)

J. T. van Loon

Keele University

O. C. Jones

Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI)

University of Manchester

S. Ramstedt

Uppsala University

A Avison

University of Manchester

Kay Justtanont

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

Hans Olofsson

Chalmers, Earth and Space Sciences, Radio Astronomy and Astrophysics

Jadl Blommaert

Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB)

S. R. Goldman

Keele University

M. A. T. Groenewegen

Royal Observatory of Belgium

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

0035-8711 (ISSN) 1365-2966 (eISSN)

Vol. 453 4 4324-4336

Subject Categories

Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology

DOI

10.1093/mnras/stv1968

More information

Latest update

9/6/2018 7