Imaging the circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars

Abstract

We report the results of an exploratory program to image the extended circumstellar envelopes of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars in dust-scattered galactic light. The goal is to characterize the morphology of the envelopes as a probe of the mass-loss process. The observations consist of short exposures with the VLT and longer exposures with 1-2m telescopes, augmented with archival images from the Hubble Space Telescope. We observed 12 AGB stars and detected the circumstellar envelopes in 7. The detected envelopes have mass loss rates more than about 5 10E-6 solar mass per year, and they can be seen out to distances of about 1 kpc. The observations provide information on the mass loss history on time scales up to about 10,000 years. For the five AGB envelopes in which the circumstellar geometry is well determined by scattered light observations, all except one (OH348.2-19.7) show deviations from spherical symmetry. Two (IRC+10216 and IRC+10011) show roughly spherical envelopes at large radii but asymmetry or bipolarity close to the star; one (AFGL 2514) shows an extended, elliptical envelope, and one (AFGL 3068) shows a spiral pattern. The non-spherical structures are all consistent with the effects of binary interactions. Our observations are in accord with a scenario in which binary companions play a role in shaping planetary nebulae, and show that the circumstellar gas is already partly shaped on the AGB, before evolution to the proto-planetary nebula phase.

Accepted by AA 21 Feb 2006; 18 pages, 14 figs; for high resolution images, contact mauron at graal.univ-montp2.fr

Cited by in corpus (58)

• Low-Mass Binary Induced Outflows from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars
• Unexpectedly large mass loss during the thermal pulse cycle of the red giant R Sculptoris!
• Preplanetary Nebulae: An HST Imaging Survey and a New Morphological Classification System
• Isolated vs. Common Envelope Dynamos in Planetary Nebula Progenitors
• (Sub)stellar companions shape the winds of evolved stars
• The prototype colliding-wind pinwheel WR 104
• ALMA data suggest the presence of a spiral structure in the inner wind of CW Leo
• A 3D dynamical model of the colliding winds in binary systems
• Molecular shells in IRC+10216: tracing the mass loss history
• Planetary Nebulae: Sources of Enlightenment
• The 12CO/13CO ratio in AGB stars of different chemical type-Connection to the 12C/13C ratio and the evolution along the AGB
• Echelle long-slit optical spectroscopy of evolved stars
• New light on Galactic post-asymptotic giant branch stars. I. First distance catalogue
• Herschel's view into Mira's head
• Large-scale environments of binary AGB stars probed by Herschel - I. Morphology statistics and case studies of R Aquarii and W Aquilae
• First detection of surface magnetic fields in Post-AGB stars : the cases of U Monocerotis and R Scuti
• The variable mass loss of the AGB star WX Psc as traced by the CO J=1-0 through 7-6 lines and the dust emission
• The Formation of Crystalline Dust in AGB Winds from Binary Induced Spiral Shocks
• Reduction of the maximum mass-loss rate of OH/IR stars due to unnoticed binary interaction
• The impact of stellar companion UV photons on the chemistry of the circumstellar environments of AGB stars
• SPH modelling of companion-perturbed AGB outflows including a new morphology classification scheme
• Dissecting the AGB star L2 Puppis: a torus in the making
• A molecular line survey of the extreme carbon star CRL 3068 at millimeter wavelengths
• Continuum emission around AGB stars at 1.2 mm
• Tracing the asymmetry in the envelope around the carbon star CIT 6
• 3D simulations of AGB stellar winds -- I. Steady winds and dust formation
• Adaptive Optics Imaging of IRAS 18276-1431: a bipolar pre-planetary nebula with circumstellar "searchlight beams" and "arcs"
• Envelope density pattern around wide binary AGB stars: a dynamical model
• Simplified models of stellar wind anatomy for interpreting high-resolution data: Analytical approach to embedded spiral geometries
• HST Images Reveal Dramatic Changes in the Core of IRC+10216
• The extended molecular envelope of the asymptotic giant branch star ${\pi }^1$ Gruis as seen by ALMA II. The spiral-outflow observed at high-angular resolution
• Investigating Anomalous Photochemistry in the Inner Wind of IRC+10216 Through Interferometric Observations of HC${}_3$N
• SN2020qlb: A hydrogen-poor superluminous supernova with well-characterized light curve undulations
• Rings and arcs around evolved stars. II. The Carbon Star AFGL 3068 and the Planetary Nebulae NGC 6543, NGC 7009 and NGC 7027
• HD101584: Circumstellar characteristics and evolutionary status
• Milliarcsecond N-Band Observations of the Nova RS Ophiuchi: First Science with the Keck Interferometer Nuller
• Lifetime of OH masers at the tip of the asymptotic giant branch
• The detached dust shells around the carbon AGB stars R Scl and V644 Sco
• The astrosphere of the Asymptotic Giant Branch star CIT 6
• Large-scale environments of binary AGB stars probed by Herschel. II: Two companions interacting with the wind of pi1 Gruis
• Impact of HI cooling and study of accretion disks in AGB wind-companion smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations
• Chemical tracers of a highly eccentric AGB-main sequence star binary
• Chemical modelling of dust-gas chemistry within AGB outflows III. Photoprocessing of the ice and return to the ISM
• The Role of Ultraviolet Photons in Circumstellar Astrochemistry
• Two-wind interactions in binaries with two orbiting giant stars
• Faint but not forgotten. I. First results from a search for astrospheres around AGB stars in the far-ultraviolet
• Detection of the S(1) Rotational Line of H2 toward IRC+10216: A Simultaneous Measurement of Mass-Loss Rate and CO Abundance
• Disentangling physics and chemistry in AGB outflows: revealing degeneracies when adding complexity
• Characterising the AGB bump and its potential to constrain mixing processes in stellar interiors
• SPH modelling of AGB wind morphology in hierarchical triple systems \& comparison to observation of R Aql
• Rings and arcs around evolved stars -- III. Physical conditions of the ring-like structures in the planetary nebula IC 4406 revealed by MUSE
• Light and colour of cirrus, translucent and opaque dust in the high-latitude area of LDN 1642
• Emerging planetary nebulae within 3D spiral patterns
• Gusty wind in the system of the infrared source RAFGL 5081
• Impact of a binary companion in AGB outflows on CO spectral lines
• Current Unsolved Problems in Planetary Nebulae Research
• Exact Analytic Solutions for a Ballistic Orbiting Wind
• 3D models of the circumstellar environments of evolved stars: Formation of multiple spiral structures