The wind of W Hydrae as seen by Herschel I. The CO envelope
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2014
Context. Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars lose their envelopes by means of a stellar wind whose driving mechanism is not understood well. Characterizing the composition and thermal and dynamical structure of the outflow provides constraints that are essential for understanding AGB evolution, including the rate of mass loss and isotopic ratios. Aims. We characterize the CO emission from the wind of the low mass-loss rate oxygen-rich AGB star W Hya using data obtained by the HIFI, PACS, and SPIRE instruments on board the Herschel Space Observatory and ground-based telescopes. (CO)-C-12 and (CO)-C-13 lines are used to constrain the intrinsic C-12/C-13 ratio from resolved HIFI lines. Methods. We combined a state-of-the-art molecular line emission code and a dust continuum radiative transfer code to model the CO lines and the thermal dust continuum. Results. The acceleration of the outflow up to about 5.5 km s(-1) is quite slow and can be represented by a beta-type velocity law with index beta = 5. Beyond this point, acceleration up the terminal velocity of 7 km s(-1) is faster. Using the J = 10-9, 9-8, and 6-5 transitions, we find an intrinsic C-12/C-13 ratio of 18 +/- 10 for W Hya, where the error bar is mostly due to uncertainties in the (CO)-C-12 abundance and the stellar flux around 4.6 mu m. To match the low-excitation CO lines, these molecules need to be photo-dissociated at similar to 500 stellar radii. The radial dust emission intensity profile of our stellar wind model matches PACS images at 70 mu m out to 20 '' (or 800 stellar radii). For larger radii the observed emission is substantially stronger than our model predicts, indicating that at these locations there is extra material present. Conclusions. The initial slow acceleration of the wind may imply inefficient dust formation or dust driving in the lower part of the envelope. The final injection of momentum in the wind might be the result of an increase in the opacity thanks to the late condensation of dust species. The derived intrinsic isotopologue ratio for W Hya is consistent with values set by the first dredge-up and suggestive of an initial mass of 2 M-circle dot or more. However, the uncertainty in the isotopologic ratio is large, which makes it difficult to set reliable limits on W Hya's main-sequence mass.
circumstellar water-vapor
mu-m
stars: AGB and post-AGB
semiregular variables
radiative transfer
radiative-transfer
evolved stars
circumstellar matter
line: formation
giant branch stars
feature
rich agb stars
stars: mass-loss
stars: individual: W
isotope ratios
molecular inventory
open clusters
Hydrae
Författare
T. Khouri
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
A. de Koter
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
KU Leuven
L. Decin
KU Leuven
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
Lbfm Waters
Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON)
Anton Pannekoek Institute for Astronomy
R. Lombaert
KU Leuven
P. Royer
KU Leuven
B. Swinyard
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
University College London (UCL)
M. J. Barlow
University College London (UCL)
J. Alcolea
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN)
Jadl Blommaert
KU Leuven
Vrije Universiteit Brüssel (VUB)
V. Bujarrabal
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN)
J. Cernicharo
Centro de Astrobiologia (CAB)
M. A. T. Groenewegen
Royal Observatory of Belgium
Kay Justtanont
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
F. Kerschbaum
Universität Wien
Matthias Maercker
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
A. P. Marston
Europeiska rymdorganisationen (ESA)
M. Matsuura
University College London (UCL)
G. J. Melnick
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
K. M. Menten
Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
Hans Olofsson
Chalmers, Rymd- och geovetenskap, Radioastronomi och astrofysik
P. Planesas
Observatorio Astronómico Nacional (OAN)
E. T. Polehampton
University of Lethbridge
STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
T. Posch
Universität Wien
M. Schmidt
Polish Academy of Sciences
R. Szczerba
Polish Academy of Sciences
B. Vandenbussche
KU Leuven
J. A. Yates
University College London (UCL)
Astronomy and Astrophysics
0004-6361 (ISSN) 1432-0746 (eISSN)
Vol. 561 Article no. A5- A5Ämneskategorier (SSIF 2011)
Astronomi, astrofysik och kosmologi
DOI
10.1051/0004-6361/201322578