W Hya through the eye of Odin. Satellite observations of circumstellar submillimetre H2O line emission

• We present Odin observations of the AGB star W Hya in the ground-state transition of ortho-H{2}O, 1{10}-101, at 557 GHz. The line is clearly of circumstellar origin. Radiative transfer modelling of the water lines observed by Odin and ISO results in a mass-loss rate of (2.5±0.5)×10-7 Mȯ yr-1, and a circumstellar H{2}O abundance of (2.0±1.0)×10-3. The inferred mass-loss rate is consistent with that obtained from modelling the circumstellar CO radio line emission, and also with that obtained from the dust emission modelling combined with a dynamical model for the outflow. The very high water abundance, higher than the cosmic oxygen abundance, can be explained by invoking an injection of excess water from evaporating icy bodies in the system. The required extra mass of water is quite small, on the order of 0.1 Moplus.

Nyckelord

stars: circumstellar matter

stars: evolution

stars: individual: W Hya

stars: late-type

stars: mass-loss

stars: AGB and post-AGB

Astronomy

astronomi

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