One month convection timescale on the surface of a giant evolved star
arXiv:2409.06785 · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07836-9
Abstract
The transport of energy through convection is important during many stages of stellar evolution, and is best studied in our Sun or giant evolved stars. Features that are attributed to convection are found on the surface of massive red supergiant stars. Also for lower mass evolved stars, indications of convection are found, but convective timescales and sizes remain poorly constrained. Models indicate that convective motions are crucial for the production of strong winds that return the products of stellar nucleosynthesis into the interstellar medium. Here we report a series of reconstructed interferometric images of the surface of the evolved giant star R Doradus. The images reveal a stellar disc with prominent small scale features that provide the structure and motions of convection on the stellar surface. We find that the dominant structure size of the features on the stellar disc is astronomical units (au). We measure the velocity of the surface motions to vary between and km s, which means the convective timescale is approximately one month. This indicates a possible difference between the convection properties of low-mass and high-mass evolved stars.
arXiv commentThis version of the article has been accepted for publication in Nature, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07836-9
References in corpus (24)
- Validation of the new Hipparcos reduction
- CASA, the Common Astronomy Software Applications for Radio Astronomy
- Resolving the stellar activity of the Mira AB binary with ALMA
- UVMULTIFIT: A versatile tool for fitting astronomical radio interferometric data
- A Grid of 3D Stellar Atmosphere Models of Solar Metallicity: I. General Properties, Granulation and Atmospheric Expansion
- Radiative hydrodynamics simulations of red supergiant stars: I. interpretation of interferometric observations
- Global 3D radiation-hydrodynamics models of AGB stars. Effects of convection and radial pulsations on atmospheric structures
- On the continuum intensity distribution of the solar photosphere
- The ALMA Interferometric Pipeline Heuristics
- Granulation properties of giants, dwarfs, and white dwarfs from the CIFIST 3D model atmosphere grid
- Global 3D radiation-hydrodynamical models of AGB stars with dust-driven winds
- The shock-heated atmosphere of an asymptotic giant branch star resolved by ALMA
- Resolving the extended stellar atmospheres of Asymptotic Giant Branch stars at (sub-)millimetre wavelengths
- Rotation of the asymptotic giant branch star R Doradus
- Near-infrared spectro-interferometry of Mira variables and comparisons to 1D dynamic model atmospheres and 3D convection simulations
- Is Betelgeuse Really Rotating? Synthetic ALMA Observations of Large-scale Convection in 3D Simulations of Red Supergiants
- Atmospheric molecular blobs shape up circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars
- Infrared interferometric three-dimensional diagnosis of the atmospheric dynamics of the AGB star R Dor with VLTI/AMBER
- Multidimensional Simulations of Core Convection
- The non-uniform, dynamic atmosphere of Betelgeuse observed at mid-infrared wavelengths
- Long Term Evolution of Surface Features on the Red Supergiant AZ Cyg
- VLTI-PIONIER imaging of the red supergiant V602 Carinae
- The convective surface of the red supergiant Antares. VLTI/PIONIER interferometry in the near infrared
- An empirical view of the extended atmosphere and inner envelope of the AGB star R Doradus I. Physical model based on CO lines
Cited by in corpus (6)
- ATOMIUM: Continuum emission and evidence of dust enhancement from binary motion
- Probing the Extended Atmospheres of AGB Stars: I. Synthetic imaging of 1D hydrodynamical models at radio and (sub-)millimeter wavelengths
- High-angular-resolution ALMA imaging of the inhomogeneous dynamical atmosphere of the asymptotic giant branch star W Hya
- Inferring hemispheric asymmetries of stellar active regions through the information content of astrometric signals
- X TrA through the eyes of MATISSE: More evidence of clumpy molecular layers around C-type asymptotic giant branch stars
- VLTI-GRAVITY measurements of cool evolved stars: II. Pulsation properties and mass-loss process of the Mira star R Car and the red supergiant VX Sgr