Evidence for episodic and patchy mass ejection in the circumstellar envelope of AGB star R Leonis

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: Evidence for episodic and patchy mass ejection in the circumstellar envelope of AGB star R Leonis
المؤلفون: Hoai, D. T., Nhung, P. T., Tan, M. N., Darriulat, P., Diep, P. N., Ngoc, N. B., Thai, T. T., Tuan-Anh, P.
سنة النشر: 2022
المجموعة: Astrophysics
مصطلحات موضوعية: Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics, Astrophysics - Astrophysics of Galaxies
الوصف: The morpho-kinematics of the circumstellar envelope of oxygen-rich AGB star R Leonis is probed using ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) observations of the emission of molecular lines, including in particular CO(2-1) and $^{29}$SiO(5-4). Evidence is found for an episode of enhanced mass loss, a few centuries ago, that produced a broad expanding shell of mean radius $\sim$6 arcsec and mean radial expansion velocity $\sim$5.5 km s$^{-1}$ . Detailed scrutiny of its structure, as displayed by the emission of the CO(2-1) line, reveals strong inhomogeneity and patchy morphology. Evidence is also found, in particular from the morpho-kinematics of the emission of SiO, SO and SO$_2$ lines probing the close neighbourhood of the star, for distinct gas outflows covering broad solid angles in the south-eastern, south-western and north-western quadrants, suggesting significant contribution of the convective cell granulation in defining the pattern of mass ejection. A study of relative molecular abundances in these outflows suggests that a Local Thermal Equilibrium (LTE) description applies approximately beyond $\sim$10 stellar radii from the centre of the star but not at the smaller angular separations where the SO and SO$_2$ molecules are found to be confined. Near the stellar disc, masers of the vibrationally excited SiO lines are found to probe north-western parts of a layer of hot gas, consistent with the earlier observation of an asymmetric expanding shell within 1-2 stellar radii from the centre of the star. Globally, a picture dominated by episodic and patchy mass ejections is found to prevail.
Comment: Accepted for publication in MNRAS
نوع الوثيقة: Working Paper
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stac3176
URL الوصول: http://arxiv.org/abs/2211.02207
رقم الأكسشن: edsarx.2211.02207
قاعدة البيانات: arXiv