| 1. |
- Cernicharo, J., et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of the first Ca-bearing molecule in space: CaNC
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 627
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the detection of calcium isocyanide, CaNC, in the carbon-rich evolved star IRC + 10216. We derived a column density for this species of (2 +/- 0.5) x 10(11) cm(-2). Based on the observed line profiles and the modelling of its emission through the envelope, the molecule has to be produced in the intermediate and outer layers of the circumstellar envelope where other metal-isocyanides have previously been found in this source. The abundance ratio of CaNC relative to MgNC and FeCN is congruent to 1/60 and congruent to 1, respectively. We searched for the species CaF, CaCl, CaC, CaCCH, and CaCH3 for which accurate frequency predictions are available. Only upper limits have been obtained for these molecules.
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| 2. |
- Cernicharo, J., et al.
(författare)
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Discovery of two new magnesium-bearing species in IRC+10216: MgC3N and MgC4H
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 630
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report on the detection of two series of harmonically related doublets in IRC +10216. From the observed frequencies, the rotational constant of the first series is B = 1380.888 MHz and that of the second series is B = 1381.512 MHz. The two series correspond to two species with a (2)Sigma electronic ground state. After considering all possible candidates, and based on quantum chemical calculations, the first series is assigned to MgC3N and the second to MgC4H. For the latter species, optical spectroscopy measurements support its identification. Unlike diatomic metal-containing molecules, the line profiles of the two new molecules indicate that they are formed in the outer layers of the envelope, as occurs for MgNC and other polyatomic metal-cyanides. We also confirm the detection of MgCCH that was previously reported from the observation of two doublets. The relative abundance of MgC3N with respect to MgNC is close to one while that of MgC4H relative to MgCCH is about ten. The synthesis of these magnesium cyanides and acetylides in IRC +10216 can be explained in terms of a two-step process initiated by the radiative association of Mg+ with large cyanopolyynes and polyynes followed by the dissociative recombination of the ionic complexes.
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| 3. |
- Fonfria, J. P., et al.
(författare)
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Gas infall and possible circumstellar rotation in R Leonis
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 622
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present new interferometer molecular observations of R Leo taken at 1.2 mm with the Atacama Large Millimeter Array with an angular resolution up to similar or equal to 0.'' 026. These observations permitted us to resolve the innermost envelope of this star, which revealed a complex structure that involves extended continuum emission and molecular emission showing a non-radial gas velocity distribution. This molecular emission displays prominent red-shifted absorptions located immediately in front of the star, which are typical footprints of material infall. This emission also shows lateral gas motions compatible with a torus-like structure.
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| 4. |
- Khouri, Theo, 1985, et al.
(författare)
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Detection of highly excited OH towards AGB stars: A new probe of shocked gas in the extended atmospheres
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 623
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We characterise the gas in the extended atmospheres of the oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars W Hya and R Dor using high angular resolution ALMA observations. Methods. We report the detection and investigate the properties of high-excitation Λ-doubling line emission of hydroxyl (OH). Results. The OH lines are produced very close to the central stars and seem optically thin and with no maser effect. We analyse the molecular excitation using a population diagram and find rotational temperatures of ∼2500 K and column densities of ∼10 19 cm -2 for both sources. For W Hya, we observe emission from vibrationally excited H 2 O arising from the same region as the OH emission. Moreover, CO v = 1, J = 3-2 emission also shows a brightness peak in the same region. Considering optically thin emission and the rotational temperature derived for OH, we find a CO column density ∼15 times higher than that of OH, within an area of (92 × 84) mas 2 centred on the OH emission peak. These results should be considered tentative because of the simple methods employed. The observed OH line frequencies differ significantly from the predicted transition frequencies in the literature, and provide the possibility of using OH lines observed in AGB stars to improve the accuracy of the Hamiltonian used for the OH molecule. We predict stronger OH Λ-doubling lines at millimetre wavelengths than those we detected. These lines will be a good probe of shocked gas in the extended atmosphere and are possibly even suitable as probes of the magnetic field in the atmospheres of close-by AGB stars through the Zeeman effect.
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| 5. |
- Massalkhi, S., et al.
(författare)
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The abundance of S- and Si-bearing molecules in O-rich circumstellar envelopes of AGB stars
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 641
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims. We aim to determine the abundances of SiO, CS, SiS, SO, and SO2 in a large sample of oxygen-rich asymptotic giant branch (AGB) envelopes covering a wide range of mass loss rates to investigate the potential role that these molecules could play in the formation of dust in these environments.Methods. We surveyed a sample of 30 oxygen-rich AGB stars in the lambda 2 mm band using the IRAM 30m telescope. We performed excitation and radiative transfer calculations based on the large velocity gradient method to model the observed lines of the molecules and to derive their fractional abundances in the observed envelopes.Results. We detected SiO in all 30 targeted envelopes, as well as CS, SiS, SO, and SO2 in 18, 13, 26, and 19 sources, respectively. Remarkably, SiS is not detected in any envelope with a mass loss rate below 10(-6)M(circle dot) yr(-1), whereas it is detected in all envelopes with mass loss rates above that threshold. From a comparison with a previous, similar study on C-rich sources, it becomes evident that the fractional abundances of CS and SiS show a marked differentiation between C-rich and O-rich sources, being two orders of magnitude and one order of magnitude more abundant in C-rich sources, respectively, while the fractional abundance of SiO turns out to be insensitive to the C/O ratio. The abundance of SiO in O-rich envelopes behaves similarly to C-rich sources, that is, the denser the envelope the lower its abundance. A similar trend, albeit less clear than for SiO, is observed for SO in O-rich sources.Conclusions. The marked dependence of CS and SiS abundances on the C/O ratio indicates that these two molecules form more efficiently in C- than O-rich envelopes. The decline in the abundance of SiO with increasing envelope density and the tentative one for SO indicate that SiO and possibly SO act as gas-phase precursors of dust in circumstellar envelopes around O-rich AGB stars.
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| 6. |
- Pardo, J. R., et al.
(författare)
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Detection of vibrationally excited HC7N and HC9N in IRC+10216
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 640
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Observations of IRC +10216 with the Yebes 40 m telescope between 31 and 50 GHz have revealed more than 150 unidentified lines. Some of them can be grouped into a new series of 26 doublets, harmonically related with integer quantum numbers ranging from J(up)=54 to 80. The separation of the doublets increases systematically with J, that is to say, as expected for a linear species in one of its bending modes. The rotational parameters resulting from the fit to these data are B=290.8844 +/- 0.0004 MHz, D=0.88 +/- 0.04 Hz, and q=0.1463 +/- 0.0001 MHz. The rotational constant is very close to that of the ground state of HC9N. Our ab initio calculations show an excellent agreement between these parameters and those predicted for the lowest energy vibrationally excited state, nu (19)=1, of HC9N. This is the first detection, and complete characterization in space, of vibrationally excited HC9N. An energy of 41.5 cm(-1) is estimated for the nu (19) state. In addition, 17 doublets of HC7N in the nu (15)=1 state, for which laboratory spectroscopy is available, were detected for the first time in IRC +10216. Several doublets of HC5N in its nu (11)=1 state were also observed. The column density ratio between the ground and the lowest excited vibrational states are approximate to 127, 9.5, and 1.5 for HC5N, HC7N, and HC9N, respectively. We find that these lowest-lying vibrational states are most probably populated via infrared pumping to vibrationally excited states lying at approximate to 600 cm(-1). The lowest vibrationally excited states thus need to be taken into account to precisely determine absolute abundances and abundance ratios for long carbon chains. The abundance ratios N(HC5N)/N(HC7N) and N(HC7N)/N(HC9N) are 2.4 and 7.7, respectively.
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| 7. |
- Quintana-Lacaci, Guillermo, et al.
(författare)
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Hints of the Existence of C-rich Massive Evolved Stars
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - : American Astronomical Society. - 1538-4357 .- 0004-637X. ; 876:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We aim to study the properties of a particular type of evolved stars, C-rich evolved stars with high expansion velocities. For this purpose we have focused on the two best studied objects within this group, IRC+10401 and AFGL 2233. We focused on determining their luminosity by studying their spectral energy distribution. Also, we have obtained single-dish line profiles and interferometric maps of the CO J - 1-0 and J = 2-1. emission lines for both objects. We have modeled this emission using a LVG radiative transfer code to determine the kinetic temperature and density profiles of the gas ejected by these stars. We have found that the luminosities obtained for these objects (log(L/L-circle dot). =. 4.1 and 5.4) locate them in the domain of the massive asymptotic giant branch stars (AGBs) and the red supergiant stars (RSGs). In addition, the mass-loss rates obtained (1.5. x. 10(-5)-6. x 10(-3)M(circle dot) yr(-1)) suggest that while IRC+ 10401 might be an AGB star, AFGL 2233 could be an RSG star. All these results, together with those from previous works, suggest that both objects are massive objects, IRC+10401 a massive evolved star with M-init similar to 5-9M(circle dot). which could correspond to an AGB or an RSG and AFGL 2233 an RSG with M-init similar to 20M(circle dot), which would confirm the existence of massive C-rich evolved stars. Two scenarios are proposed to form these types of objects. The first one is capable of producing high-mass AGB stars up to similar to 8M(circle dot). and the second one is capable of forming C-rich RSGs like AFGL 2233.
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| 8. |
- Saberi, M., et al.
(författare)
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First detection of AlF line emission towards M-type AGB stars
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 663
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The nucleosynthesis production of fluorine (F) is still a matter of debate. Asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars are one of the main candidates for F production. However, their contribution to the total F budget is not fully known due to the lack of observations. In this paper, we report the detection of aluminium monofluoride (AlF) line emission, one of the two main carriers of F in the gas-phase in the outflow of evolved stars, towards five nearby oxygen-rich (M-type) AGB stars. We studied the Atacama large millimetre/sub-millimetre array (ALMA) observations of AlF (v = 0, J = 4-3, 9-8, 10-9, and 15-14) and (v = 1, J = 7-6) line emission towards o Ceti, and (v = 0, J = 7-6 and 15-14) lines towards R Leo. We also report a tentative detection of AlF (v = 0, J = 7-6) line in IK Tau, (v = 0, J = 15-14) line towards R Dor, and (v = 0, J = 7-6 and J = 15-14) lines in W Hya. From spatially resolved observations, we estimated the AlF emitting region with a radius ∼11R∗ for o Ceti and ∼9R∗ for R Leo. From population diagram analysis, we report the AlF column densities of ∼5.8 × 1015 cm-2 and ∼3 × 1015 cm-2 for o Ceti and R Leo, respectively, within these regions. For o Ceti, we used the C18O (v = 0, J = 3-2) observations to estimate the H2 column density of the emitting region. We found a fractional abundance of fAIF/H2 ∼ (2.5 ± 1.7) × 10-8. This gives a lower limit on the F budget in o Ceti and is compatible with the solar F budget fF/H2 = (5 ± 2) × 10-8. For R Leo, a fractional abundance fAIF/H2 = (1.2 ± 0.5) × 10-8 is estimated. For other sources, we cannot precisely determine the emitting region based on the available data. Assuming an emitting region with a radius of ∼11R∗ and the rotational temperatures derived for o Ceti and R Leo, we crudely approximated the AlF column density to be ∼(1.2-1.5) × 1015 cm-2 in W Hya, ∼(2.5-3.0) × 1014 cm-2 in R Dor, and ∼(0.6-1.0) × 1016 cm-2 in IK Tau. These result in fractional abundances within a range of fAIF/H2 ∼ (0.1 - 4) × 10-8 in W Hya, R Dor, and IK Tau.
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| 9. |
- Velilla Prieto, Luis, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Circumstellar chemistry of Si-C bearing molecules in the C-rich AGB star IRC+10216
- 2018
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union. - 1743-9213 .- 1743-9221. ; 14, s. 535-537
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Silicon carbide together with amorphous carbon are the main components of dust grains in the atmospheres of C-rich AGB stars. Small gaseous Si-C bearing molecules (such as SiC, SiCSi, and SiC2) are efficiently formed close to the stellar photosphere. They likely condense onto dust seeds owing to their highly refractory nature at the lower temperatures (i.e., below about 2500 K) in the dust growth zone which extends a few stellar radii from the photosphere. Beyond this region, the abundances of Si-C bearing molecules are expected to decrease until they are eventually reformed in the outer shells of the circumstellar envelope, owing to the interaction between the gas and the interstellar UV radiation field. Our goal is to understand the time-dependent chemical evolution of Si-C bond carriers probed by molecular spectral line emission in the circumstellar envelope of IRC+10216 at millimeter wavelengths.
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| 10. |
- Velilla Prieto, Luis, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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IRC+10 degrees 216 mass loss properties through the study of lambda 3 mm emission
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 629
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Low-mass evolved stars are major contributors to interstellar medium enrichment as a consequence of the intense mass-loss process these stars experience at the end of their lives. The study of the gas in the envelopes surrounding asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars through observations in the millimetre wavelength range provides information about the history and nature of these molecular factories. Here we present ALMA observations at subarsecond resolution, complemented with IRAM-30 m data, of several lines of SiO, SiS, and CS towards the best-studied AGB circumstellar envelope, IRC + 10 degrees 216. We aim to characterise their spatial distribution and determine their fractional abundances mainly through radiative transfer and chemical modelling. The three species display extended emission with several enhanced emission shells. CS displays the most extended distribution reaching distances up to approximately 20 ''. SiS and SiO emission have similar sizes of approximately 11 '', but SiS emission is slightly more compact. We have estimated fractional abundances relative to H-2, which on average are equal to f(SiO) similar to 10(-7), f(SiS) similar to 10(-6), and f(CS) similar to 10(-6) up to the photo-dissociation region. The observations and analysis presented here show evidence that the circumstellar material displays clear deviations from an homogeneous spherical wind, with clumps and low density shells that may allow UV photons from the interstellar medium (ISM) to penetrate deep into the envelope, shifting the photo-dissociation radius inwards. Our chemical model predicts photo-dissociation radii compatible with those derived from the observations, although it is unable to predict abundance variations from the starting radius of the calculations (similar to 10 R-*), which may reflect the simplicity of the model. We conclude that the spatial distribution of the gas proves the episodic and variable nature of the mass loss mechanism of IRC + 10 degrees 216, on timescales of hundreds of years.
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