The Astrosphere of the Asymptotic Giant Branch Star Irc+10216

Abstract

We have discovered a very extended shock structure (i.e., with a diameter of about 24 arcmin) surrounding the well-known carbon star IRC+10216 in ultraviolet images taken with the GALEX satellite. We conclude that this structure results from the interaction of IRC+10216's molecular wind with the interstellar medium (ISM), as it moves through the latter. All important structural features expected from theoretical models of such interactions are identified: the termination shock, the astrosheath, the astropause, the bowshock, and an astrotail (with vortices). The extent of the astropause provides new lower limits to the envelope age (69,000 years) and mass (1.4 solar masses, for a mass-loss rate of 2 x 10^(-5) solar masses/year). From the termination-shock standoff distance, we find that IRC+10216 is moving at a speed of about > 91 km/s [1 cm^(-3)/n_(ISM)]^1/2 through the local ISM.

4 pages, 3 color figures; accepted for Astrophysical Journal (Letters)

References in corpus (3)

• The circumstellar envelope of IRC+10216 from milli-arcsecond to arcmin scales
• Vortices in the wakes of AGB stars
• Cometary Astropause of Mira Revealed in the Far-Infrared

Cited by in corpus (39)

• A far-infrared survey of bow shocks and detached shells around AGB stars and red supergiants
• MESS (Mass-loss of Evolved StarS), a Herschel Key Program
• Warm water vapour in the sooty outflow from a luminous carbon star
• The enigmatic nature of the circumstellar envelope and bow shock surrounding Betelgeuse as revealed by Herschel. I. Evidence of clumps, multiple arcs, and a linear bar-like structure
• Molecular shells in IRC+10216: tracing the mass loss history
• Heliosheath Processes and the Structure of the Heliopause: Modeling Energetic Particles, Cosmic Rays, and Magnetic Fields
• 3D Simulations of Betelgeuse's Bow Shock
• The size, luminosity and motion of the extreme carbon star IRC+10216 (CW Leonis)
• An independent distance estimate to CW Leo
• IRC +10 216 in 3-D: morphology of a TP-AGB star envelope
• New Evidence for Mass Loss from delta Cephei from HI 21-cm Line Observations
• Discovery of multiple dust shells beyond 1 arcmin in the circumstellar envelope of IRC+10216 using Herschel/PACS
• Large-scale environments of binary AGB stars probed by Herschel - I. Morphology statistics and case studies of R Aquarii and W Aquilae
• Discovery of a detached HI gas shell surrounding alpha Orionis
• Herschel PACS and SPIRE imaging of CW Leo
• The Interaction of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars with the Interstellar Medium
• X Her and TX Psc: Two cases of ISM interaction with stellar winds observed by Herschel
• Extended Structures of Planetary Nebulae Detected in H${}_2$ Emission
• HI Observations of the Asymptotic Giant Branch Star X Herculis: Discovery of an Extended Circumstellar Wake Superposed on a Compact High-Velocity Cloud
• Modelling interstellar structures around Vela X-1
• Late Stages of Stellar Evolution - Herschel's contributions
• An HI Imaging Survey of Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Discovery of a Shell of Neutral Atomic Hydrogen Surrounding the Carbon Star IRC+10216
• Far-infrared imaging of post-AGB stars and (proto)-planetary nebulae with the AKARI Far-Infrared Surveyor
• The astrosphere of the Asymptotic Giant Branch star CIT 6
• Discovery of a halo around the Helix Nebula NGC 7293 in the WISE all-sky survey
• Non-monotonic spatial distribution of the interstellar dust in astrospheres: finite gyroradius effect
• The fate of the interstellar medium in early-type galaxies. III. The mechanism of ISM removal and quenching of star formation
• Modeling rotational disruption of grains and microwave emission from spinning dust in AGB envelopes
• First Detection of UV emission from a Detached Dust Shell: GALEX Observations of the Carbon AGB Star U Hya
• Planetary Nebulae with UVIT II: Revelations from FUV vision of Butterfly Nebula NGC 6302
• A large bubble around the AGB star R Dor detected in the UV
• PACS and SPIRE range spectroscopy of cool, evolved stars
• Faint but not forgotten. I. First results from a search for astrospheres around AGB stars in the far-ultraviolet
• Ionized carbon around IRC +10216
• Extended far-UV emission surrounding asymptotic giant branch stars as seen by GALEX
• MHD flows at astropauses and in astrotails
• CHESS: an Innovative Concept for High-Resolution, Far-UV Spectroscopy
• [C I] and [C II] emission in the circumstellar envelope of IRC +10216 I. Observational data and NLTE modeling of the [C I] emission